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Cesar's Character 

OR 

IN DEFENSE OF THE 
STANDARD OF MANKIND " 



BY 
WILLIAM WADDELL 



'"'What profiteth a man if he gain the 
whole world and lose his own soulf'' 



New Yor4'\nd Washington 
THE NJ|ALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

»907 



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USR'^RY of congress] 
Two Cooles Recelvad ! 

AUG H '90^ 
. Cooyncht Entry 

cU^A xxc/no. 

COPY li. 



Copyright, 1907, by 
THE NEALE PUBLISHING COMPANY 



'^^ff 



DEDICATION 

' ' The public will expect, in choosing a patron 
for this work, the writer should address him- 
self to some person of illustrious rank, and 
bearing a principal share in the great affairs of 
the nation. ' '^ 

Will it, then, be too bold to have dedicated this 
poor volume to the right honorable Governor 
Folk, of Missouri, for the uprightness of pur- 
pose displayed in his position, by his ''most 
passionate admirer and most devoted, humble 
servant" T 

^Middleton. ^Steele. 



PREFACE 

This work has a single purpose. It was not 
written to display any merits (and if the latter 
exist it is the author's wish that they be made 
subordinate to his cause), but was called forth 
by the good in humanity. 

The following incident will be of interest to 
those who may desire to know the circumstance 
that proved the immediate spur to the writing 
of this work. 

One day at high school, the instructor in 
Latin, speaking of Caesar, said: ^'Caesar's char- 
acter has never been satisfactorily explained, 
but undoubtedly he was one of the greatest 
monsters that ever lived." The writer, who 
was well acquainted with history, had prev- 
iously thought along this same line, and had 
held similar ideas, and having his own thought, 
as it were, repeated to him, it doubly impressed 
him. He determined, therefore, to write on this 
man's character and clear up some facts that 
were not clear, at that time, in his own mind, 
nor in the minds of others. He then began 
to collect the original sources, but his work did 
not begin in earnest until two years later, and 
has progressed from that time to the present. 



8 Preface, 

In short, he then set out to establish what Steele 
so well states, ^^ There is no greater monster 
in being than a very ill man of great parts/ '^ 
That is, a man morally very sick, but possess- 
ing great abilities, is harmful to the world. 

The original authorities were all consulted 
before going to the modern writers. The main 
original sources drawn from have been Plu- 
tarch, Suetonius, Appian, Dion Cassius, Cicero 's 
Letters, and Lucan. Suetonius was always con- 
sidered a reliable authority by Mommsen, and 
is commended in the following terms by Trol- 
lope: ^'For the character of Cassar generally 
I would refer readers to Suetonius, whose life 
of the great man is, to my thinking, more 
graphic than any that has been written since. 
* * * There was enough of history, of biog- 
raphy, and of tradition to enable him to form 
a true idea of the man. He himself as a narra- 
tor was neither specially friendly nor specially 
hostile. He has told us what was believed at 
the time, and he has drawn a character that 
agrees perfectly with all that we have learned 
since. "^ Lucan, although a poet, made history 
the subject of his poem, and should be taken as 
authority, for, as Merivale says, ^'he sat at the 
feet of statesmen and philosophers, and knew 
much of history."^ 

Appian and Dion Cassius are usually taken 
as reliable authorities on this period of history. 

'Steele— "De Coverly Papers," chap. III. 
^'Trollope— "Cicero," Vol. I, p. 267. 
"Merivale — "Roman Triumvirs," p. 123. 



Preface, 9 

Plutarch needs no reference, and Cicero^s Let- 
ters on this period of Roman history are an in- 
exhaustible fountain of information. 

We liave used the same sources that the wor- 
shipers of Caesar have used, but *^our opin- 
ions, '' in the language of Cato, ''are extremely 
different. ' ^ We have probably shown what dif- 
ferent results can be obtained from the same 
material. Let us say, with Fronde: "Sueto- 
nius shows, nevertheless, an effort at veracity, 
an antiquarian curiosity and diligence, and a 
serious anxiety to tell his story impartially. 
Suetonius, in the absence of evidence direct or 
presumptive to the contrary, I have felt myself 
able to follow."^ So have we. 

The worshipers of Caesar, are dealt with in 
the work, but mention should here be made of 
one of them. The writer considers Fronde's 
volume to be probably the worst work on Caesar 
that has ever been written, and it was his origi- 
nal intention to deal with that work separately, 
but the final plan of his work prevented it. 
However, Froude 's work is dealt with under the 
subjects with which it treats. 

In his notes the author has used an arrange- 
ment that he thought would be to the conven- 
ience of the reader, as it does not compel him 
to break off in the reading. The notes ^, ^, etc., 
are authorities only, or brief notes; (1), (2), 
etc., are the notes proper, or a comment on the 
subject. 

In concluding his preface the writer wishes 

iFroude— "Caesar," Preface, VIII. 



10 Preface 

to say that if those who perceive the purpose 
of this work feel it is not satisfactory, it will 
not be surprising, for it has not always come up 
to the expectations of its author. A man may 
have a grand thought, but to find one who can 
express it just as he means it, is a rare thing. 
However, as the work stands, he feels himself 
capable of saying with another, ^'So long as 
misery and ignorance remain on earth, books 
like this cannot be useless."^ 

iPreface to "Les Miserables." 



CONTENTS 

BOOK I 

The Simplicity of Man 13 

BOOK II 

The Conspiracy of Catiline 39 

Beginning of the Civil War 51 

Caesar and Cleopatra 68 

Victory Over Pharnaces 80 

Caesar's Government 83 

Moral Character of Caesar 90 

Traits of Caesart^ Character, and Effect of 

this Type of Men Upon World 123 

Caesar's Death 140 

BOOK III 

Triumph of the Good in Cato 148 

Some Comparisons 160 

Importance of the Moral Sense 177 

Some Disjointed Eeflections 200 

An Address to the Good in Humanity 229 

Conclusion 233 

11 



BOOK I 

"Will the world stop long enough in its terrific pace to 
listen to our mild speech?" 

THE SIMPLICITY OF MAN 

THE AEGUMENT 

Pakt I. — All humanity is divided into two 
classes. Why the author took up this work. How 
it came to be written. Caesar's character has 
never been definitely settled. The writers who 
have condemned Caesar are innumerable. A 
noteworthy fact of the great moralists and phi- 
losophers of this world. Good often arises out 
of evil. The age in which Caesar lived. Caesar 
could never have flourished in a virtuous age. 
A difference between history and biography. 
Men's opinions concerning Caesar at various 
times. In Dante 's time ; in Shakespere 's time. 

Part II. — A few reflections. The ignorance 
and simplicity of mankind. Men who are natu- 
rally passionate and men who are only occasion- 
ally so. A point in the characters of Alexander 
and Caesar. How many men are as Johnson de- 
scribes? The lot of the pioneer of truth, as 
shown by past history. Typical way of the 

13 



14 C Cesar's Character 

world in receiving the truth. The principle by 
which men live. One characteristic of the 
world's great literary works. The power of evil 
men over literature. A fault of the ancients and 
the deterioration of nations. Force and con- 
demnation are the best weapons in handling 
evil ; some examples. A tale of a young man and 
a sceptical audience. 



PART I 

The whole of humanity is divided into two 
classes : the good and the evil ; no more, no less. 
This has often been stated before, but no man 
knows what it means. If in this work mankind 
obtains some conception of this great truth, we 
have done a thing of inestimable service to 
mankind. 

Of all wars and conflicts, the war of the good 
and the bad is the greatest, and includes all 
others. 

There was a bandit who, with his followers, 
had for many years terrorized the country in 
which they roamed, and who during a large part 
of these years had been pursued by a band of 
men, sent out by a governor who was known 
throughout this country as a man of strong 
moral purpose. After some twelve years of this 
wild and evil life, the leader of these bandits 
was caught. Upon being taken to prison he was 
lodged in a cell with one of his followers who 
had been captured some time previously. Their 



The Simplicity of Man 15 

talk, naturally, was about their capture and the 
governor who had effected it. Upon his com- 
panion making some remarks about the traits 
of this governor, the leader of the bandits said, 
dejectedly, '^I don^t know what this thing mor- 
als is, but I do know it's something powerful." 

If he had been impressed as well by his ob- 
servation as by his experience, he would have 
seen that men give up their lives, countries be- 
come engaged in war, and that there is a con- 
tinual conflict going on in the world about this 
'' something powerful." 

Our subject, then, being above all others, em- 
braces the human race, and is intended to be of 
world importance, for it assuredly deals with 
the most vital matter that concerns mankind. 

The world will probably demand to know, 
then, why we arise from the depths of nowhere 
to speak of important and embracing matters. 
Firstly, the author sets forth clearly his be- 
lief that as a man lives but once in this world, 
be he rich or poor, high or low, of noble or mean 
birth, he should give his life to the betterment 
of the world. Secondly, the author has not 
taken up this task backed by a knowledge of his 
abilities, but has been irresistibly spurred on 
by a deep-seeing conscience. So that if a cer- 
tain class of men learn nothing else from the 
work, they may observe and learn what a pow- 
erful thing a conscience is. 

If there are traces of a certain forwardness 
in this work, the author wishes to say that he 
is naturally neither bold nor forcible, but when 



16 Ccesar^s Character 

he saw in the first place that the world possesses 
little real merit, and in the second place that 
men in general are either wholly deceived by 
certain men, or are of the same nature them- 
selves, or at least have much in common with 
them which causes them to have a degree of 
sympathy for these men, which fact is detrimen- 
tal to the sympathizer, the sympathized, and the 
world in general — when the writer's mind was 
opened to these facts, although he perceived 
great obstacles to be overcome, and realized the 
immensity of his task, he determined to step 
forth and give his opinions on the matter. When 
a bashful nature like Demosthenes can be 
aroused, when a timid man like Cicero is spurred 
on to arise before men, when a naturally quiet 
nature like Luther is compelled to arise before 
the world and wield the weapon of righteous- 
ness, men may form some conception of the 
depths and far-reaching effects of evil. 

We admit we have been given the offer to 
undertake this work, and have accepted it, but 
we have no intention of arousing men from their 
natural torpor by exciting their grosser appe- 
tites ; our tune will spring from a higher string, 
such as is found in the Great Work and in the 
teachings of Christ, in whose service we write. 
If mankind cannot hear this tune, does not de- 
scry its meaning, does not recognize its air, and 
does not accept it, then mankind will hurl upon 
itself one of the most terrible condemnations 
that humanity has ever received; our purpose 
being not to war with the world, but to teach it, 



The Simplicity of Man 17 

CaBsar's character has never been settled defi- 
nitely, and various opinions have been given of 
it. Three things have entered into the question 
which influenced men in deciding the point. 
Firstly, the matter throws itself upon the moral 
nature of the historians and readers, for it has 
been noted that bad and immoral men always 
decide in favor of Caesar, whereas good and 
honest men invariably decide against him. Sec- 
ondly, according to the government under which 
they themselves lived. Thirdly, according to the 
beliefs then prevailing. 

Caesar has followers for two reasons, namely : 
there are many immoral people, and such re- 
semble him more or less in their character, and 
follow him, just as there are people who choose 
Satan instead of Christ for their leader ; men in 
general are very easily deceived, and admire 
without comprehending, for men do not stop to 
analyze before they admire. It is true that men, 
like paintings, look better at a distance; but 
if one be composed of the right metal he will 
bear the analysis. 

Writers have condemned Caesar in every form 
of literature known. In every form of prose, 
history, biography, satire and invective, besides 
poetry, has Caesar been denounced by writers of 
both ancient and modern times. 

The writers, we repeat, that have condemned 
Caesar at various times and pointed out his glar- 
ing errors, are beyond number. It is possible 
that this work could have been made up entirely 
of quotations from historians and biographers, 



18 C Cesar's Character 

with remarks to explain the passages/ When 
it is possible to make such a statement one may 
realize the amount of material we have to back 
us up. 

The works of these writers have not had the 
effect that it was intended they should have. As 
we make quotations from the most weighty au- 
thorities, it is sufficient here to say that the writ- 
ers most depreciated are Lucan in ancient times 
and Middleton in modern times. Among oth- 
ers who have noticed and complained of this 
matter is Channing, who in his life of Napoleon 
says: '^ These reproaches are as little more 
than sounds and unmeaning commonplaces. 
They are repeated for form's sake. Wlien we 
read or hear them we feel that they ivant depth 
and strength/''^ This faulty however, lies not 
in the writers, but in the world, for it did not 
wish to bring to the surface the points brought 
out by those writers. There may be readers 
who will be inclined to consider this as humor- 
ous, but we wish to assure them this is no book 
of humor, and have only to ask them if this 
world is perfect! A negative answer being re- 
ceived, we will ask the nature of the world's 
imperfection. Aside from the example of Christ, 
almost all the great moralists and champions of 
truth have either been killed or exiled from 
their country. Agis and Socrates, of Greece ; the 
Gracchi, Cato, Cicero, and Seneca, all died for 
their opinions. Can creatures tvho kill such men 

^A large part of the work is made up of quotations. 
^Channing— "Works," p. 523. 



The Simplicity of Man 19 

read the weaker statements^ of the same hind of 
men and voluntarily give them credit? We are 
aware that the annals of history are corrupt 
from end to end, that the great deeds of this 
world have been largely derived from bad mo- 
tives, that a great part of the good that has 
come into this world has been derived from the 
bad (1). Yet we are not dismayed. It does 
not prevent us from condemning it, from point- 
ing out its faults, from showing the proper 
course and encouraging men to follow the latter. 

The stories of the immorality of the age with 
which we deal, as told by the writers who lived 
during that time, are not a bit overdrawn. It 
is always the tendency of people to hide and 
lessen matters of this kind because they are un- 
pleasant, but that is a very strange way of giv- 
ing the truth of things. ' ' Truth is stranger than 
fiction,'^ and it should be added, there is noth- 
ing more terrible. A passage or two, however, 
will suffice for our purpose. 

Of this period Middleton says: ^'In the de- 
clining state of the Republic, the elections were 
carried on not only by the most shameful and 

'^Weaker because the former mentioned tried to force 
their ideas upon the world, whereas the latter confined 
themselves merely to the pen and were easier to meet. 

(1) The good part of history is made up in this manner, 
but a few instances will suffice. Was not the Reformation, 
started by Luther, caused by the indulgences and licentious- 
ness of the people? Was not Christ's coming upon earth 
with the object of reforming its corrupt, depraved inhabi- 
tants? And so "The Divine Comedy," "Pilgrim's Progress," 
and "Paradise Lost" were written to uplift the world from 
its awful depth of wickedness. 



20 C Cesar's Character 

avowed bribery, but by the several mobs of the 
respective candidates. These, it may well be 
imagined, were both disposed and prepared to 
commit every outrage that the cause of their 
leaders should require."^ Mommsen, after rail- 
ing against this ^'unnatural world, in which the 
sexes seemed as though they wished to change 
parts," says of this period: *'To be poor was 
not merely the sorest disgrace and the worst 
crime, but the only disgrace and the only crime ; 
for money the statesman sold the state and the 
burgher sold his freedom; the post of the oJSicer 
and the vote of the juryman were to be had 
for money; for money the lady of quality sur- 
rendered her person, as well as the common 
courtesan ; falsifying of documents, and perjur- 
ies had become so common that in a popular 
poem of this age an oath is called 'the plaster 
for debts.' Men had forgotten what honesty 
was ; a person who refused a bribe was regarded 
not as an upright man, but as a personal foe."^ 
We can well apply to this age what another had 
occasion to apply to a later period, "A time 
when dishonor and shame may arrive at high 
honors ; all evil repute and disgrace is knighted 
and ennobled ; when a marriage is suffered that 
is in a forbidden degree, or has some other de- 
fect. There is a buying and a selling, a chan- 
ging, blustering and bargaining, cheating, lying, 
robbing and stealing, debauchery and villainy, 
and all kinds of contempt of right. "^ 

^Middleton — "Cicero," p. 386 (one-volume edition). 
^Mommsen — "Rome," B. V, chap. XI. 'Luther. 



The Simplicity of Man 21 

In short, this and the age following were prob- 
ably the most corrupt that the world has ever 
seen, and it had to be so for Caesar to prosper, 
for in a more virtuous age he would have had 
too many Catos, Ciceros and Catulli to over- 
come, and not enough Catilines, Curios and An- 
tonys to help him; for it must be remembered 
that his army was made up almost solely of this 
kind of men. Cicero, in his letters of this time, 
says repeatedly that Caesar had all the criminal 
and obnoxious of all Italy in his army. Caelius 
says the army was composed solely of dishon- 
orable men, ' ' all of whom had causes for appre- 
hension in the past and criminal hopes for the 
future. ' ' Furthermore, in a better age the gov- 
ernment would not have been corrupt and weak, 
and could not have been overthrown. 

In history, the life of a man is not sufficiently 
dwelt upon, because history must take only the 
broader lines of affairs and take what is on the 
surface, often skipping over all that is beneath, 
but which is of vital importance. This is not 
a fault of history; it is the nature of it. Biog- 
raphy, however, stops and goes into the nature 
of a man, and speaks of the different phases of 
his character. This is the reason that the biog- 
raphies of Caesar are so damaging to his char- 
acter ; while the histories state the performance 
of his deeds, but do not stop sufficiently long to 
explain the means by which those deeds were 
performed. And in this period, as Meyers says, 
"events gather about a few great names, and 
the annals of the Eepublic become biographical 



22 C Cesar's Character 

rather than historical."^ The author, perceiv- 
ing this, has made his work not less historical 
than biographical, but more biographical than 
historical. 

The purpose of the writer, let it be made clear, 
is not to war with the dead nor with the fame 
of a man, but it is to war with the evil effects 
of that fame, which is not confined to one man, 
but which concerns the whole of humanity. As 
has been said before, there are three facts which 
influence men in their judgment of Ca3sar: the 
internal force or the moral sense of men as indi- 
viduals, and the two external forces, namely, 
the government under which they themselves 
live and in accordance with the beliefs prevail- 
ing at the time. 

In Dante's time men's minds were concerned 
with things that were holy, and Caesar was con- 
sidered to have founded the Holy Roman Em- 
pire. 

Dante, with Milton, wrote one of the most 
helpful, uplifting works humanity has received, 
but he had no insight into the character of 
Julius Caesar. He believed that the latter was 
divinely appointed to rule over earthly affairs. 
Whether he was deceived by Caesar's bluff of 
being descended from the gods, we know not; 
but wherever he got the theory, as soon as com- 
mon sense is applied to it, it goes up in the air. 
But Dante's misconception of Caesar made him 
send Brutus and Cassius to the depths and the 

^Meyers — "Ancient History," p. 467. 



The Simplicity of Man 23 

lower regions, whereas they most assuredly be- 
long to the upper world. 

We then come to a period in which Shake- 
spere was involved, and w^ho, in the opinion of 
the writer, was an anti-Csesar man. During and 
after the Renaissance, when the people were 
lifted out of their ignorance, a decided stand 
was made against Caesar and in favor of Cato, 
Brutus, Pompey, and the defenders of the Re- 
public. The influence of this period prevailed 
at the time Shakespere lived, but to those who 
will not accept the statements of the critics 
Schlegel and Gildon that the play is pro-Brutus, 
and are not impressed by Oman's positive state- 
ment, ^ ' It needs but a glance through this trag- 
edy to see that Brutus is the hero,"^ to those, 
we repeat, we will direct a few questions. Does 
not Shakespere make his readers sympathize 
with the conspirators % Does he not make Caesar 
out as a braggart, and does he not make his 
pride go directly t3efore a fall? Does he not 
praise Pompey, to Caesar's detriment; and does 
he not exalt Brutus'? There is but one answer. 
Then could they have been expressed by any 
other than an anti-Caesar manT 

But the strongest argument in showing that 
this play was an anti-Caesar play is the fact that 
at this time of which we speak there lived two 
of the greatest m.en, not only of England, but 
of the world, both of whom wrote decidedly 

^Oman — "Seven Roman Statesmen— Caesar." 
-An expression of Shakespere that has been distorted by 
the followers of Caesar will be dealt withi later. 



24 Caesar's Character 

against Julius Cassar. These men were Francis 
Bacon and Ben Jonson. The work of the for- 
mer was ''A Civil Character of Julius Caesar/' 
and was well received. The work of Jonson 
was a drama named *' Catiline/' in which he 
gives Caesar a part in the conspiracy of Catiline. 
The play was well received by the people, and 
Jonson considered it one of his best works. 
Who is it, then, who will say that in this age in 
which the people were so averse to Caesar, 
Shakespere would not write so as to find an echo 
in the people? 

And so the attitude toward Caesar has 
changed according to the times and inclinations 
of men. But the time when the principle of 
right and wrong is employed in judging Caesar — 
when it is asked, did he do lawful? were his 
actions proper? was his life honest and his 
means pure ? — that time has not yet come. The 
author, although taking into account those 
things that have influenced other men, will try 
to follow out this last principle so far as it is 
within the power of one man. 



PAET II 

In the great works of the world, the passions 
of men — weak men, evil men, imfortunate men 
and fallen man — are the themes that are most 
popular. 



The Simplicity of Man 25 

Life is a disappointment, in tliat its pleasures 
are not permanent. 

Pleasure is a disappointment that is why so 
many pleasure-seekers are so sour. 

In inequalities of the intellect and financial 
inequalities, the one that cannot be prevented 
nor averted is striven against, while the other, 
which can be prevented or averted, is allowed 
to exist to such an extent that while some men 
own palaces and mansions, and throw away 
money on clothes, cigars and beer, others have 
not enough bread. 

Business is a good thing for tramps, bums 
and broken sports. 

One of the worst evils of this world, in its 
effects, is the way evil and misfortune impresses 
most men. They exaggerate it, bewail their fate, 
become indifferent to their own fate or the wel- 
fare of others. 

Men, in their present state, do not like to ad- 
mit the facts of life ; for, as they must live, they 
want it to be as pleasant as possible. This atti- 
tude, however, induces them to become hypo- 
crites, and say things when they know different. 

The petite passions of men rule business, and 
it follows that it (business) is loaded with self- 
interest. 

Men were more of their own nature in ancient 
times than they are to-day. For civilization has 
brought much polish with it that makes hypoc- 
risy easy and desirable. In ancient times, aside 
from man's original nature, hypocrisy was un- 
known; now, all are hypocrites. In earlier 



26 Ccesar^s Character 

times, hypocrisy was natural to some individ- 
uals ; now, it is a system. 

All men are evil ; the difference only being in 
the type and the depth, which, however, offers a 
great variety. 

There is a degeneration going on in this coun- 
try. First, its inhabitants fought for this coun- 
try and posterity (1776). Then they fought be- 
tween one another in the Civil War (1861). 
Now, through the spirit of money-making, they 
%ht one another, to get the money (1907). 
Money leads to luxury and pleasure, and the 
latter means the downfall of a countrj^, as it 
did for Persia, Greece and Eome. And neither 
the gold of the East nor the resources of the 
West can prevent this. (Rome was extended 
over the world when she went down.) This 
thing will not happen in a day, nor a week nor 
a month, but it will happen, and is happening 
to-day. 

The world is a place where defects are howled 
about much louder than merits are appreciated. 

It is very seldom that you find a man who is 
willing to agreeably surprise one. 

The world is crooked from top to bottom, in- 
side and out; and its inhabitants, with a little 
variety, are all crooked. Probably that's why 
the world is round. 

Burglars;, grafters, thieves, murderers and 
whores get the bulk of attention and notoriety 
here. 

The highest and purest motives have the less 
chance of succeeding. 



The Simplicity of Man 27 

In this world, pleasure is that feeling which 
we receive when pain leaves us. 

The good, in this world, is derived in this 
way : Take the worst and compare it to the bad. 
The bad is better than the worst — this is the 
good. 

Life is a game that is not played on the level ; 
and it is a desperate game, at the best. 

What are the beliefs and practices of one age 
are the ridicule of another. Every age, like man, 
must believe that it is right, and the others 
wrong; otherwise it could not flourish. In the 
case of individual men, if this illusion did not 
exist, existence would be unendurable. 

It is quite difficult to teach the present age of 
what things are good, for it is wrapped up in 
the present, and its case is analogous to that of 
man in passion, who sees its merits only, but no 
defects or consequences. The past, the only 
place where these lessons can be learned, they 
will not turn to long enough to take their eyes 
off what is before them. Are not men of the 
past made up of the same bone, blood and flesh 
as men of the present! However, they (men of 
the present) can easily be taught the different 
varieties of worldly pleasure and personal gain. 

There is not a passion man is heir to that is 
not delusive. If it were as strong as it, in its 
height, appears to be, then he would have some- 
thing, but, as it is, it is like a gas balloon, with 
nothing to it. Similarly, are man's hopes so 
much so in fact that frequently he is best off 
who has no hopes. 



28 CcBsar's Character 

A man who exposes vice and crime is fre- 
quently called a scandal-monger, etc., pure as 
liis intention and purpose might be, while those 
who did the act get off scot-free. Such is the 
judgment of men. But the point is, has he no 
right to condemn this condition and ask men to 
better it? 

If the principle brought out by the writer, in 
this work, is not satisfactory to the world, and 
does not coincide with that law of the world, 
''The world is the all in all, the ruler of all 
things, superior to and above all else; what is 
satisfactory, alone, is accepted; what is not, is 
rejected. ' ' This is a law, dear reader, by which 
the world has unsuccessfully tried to rule itself. 
If the principle brought out by the writer does 
not coincide with this law, and is not satisfac- 
tory to the world, it is no fault of the writer. 
It is his work simply to proceed. 

The ancient Greeks were the most heautifid 
race the world has produced, and mankind will 
probably never produce a race of people their 
equal. In the arts, science, literature, the Greeks 
were the first of heroes, painters, poets and phil- 
osophers. The ancients, until the end of time, 
will be admired by mankind for more things of 
depth than any other age. The reason is that 
they possessed a finer quality and a greater 
quantity of nervous force than men of to-day 
and, as a result, were the more gifted; but they 
misused their powers, and the human race de- 
teriorated and left us the remnants of a once 
glorious race. The men of to-day misuse their 



The Simplicity of Man 29" 

powers by siiniliar means, and to-day the hu- 
man race is deteriorating'. 

People deny many of the dark things of this 
life, because they have to live here and want it 
to seem as pleasant as possible. But that is get- 
ting at neither truth nor facts ; it is simply add- 
ing another illusion to the many that already 
exist. 

As has been said, Cassar has been condemned 
by writers innumerable, and their failure in not 
haying been effective we have traced, not to the 
writers, but to the world. Aside from the prin- 
ciple of the strong and the weak, which reigns 
supreme in the world, there are two reasons for 
this condition. 

The first is the ignorance, simplicity, and gul- 
libility of mankind, for men frequently admire 
what they do not understand, and likewise con- 
demn what is beyond their comprehension. The 
minds of most people are very simple, and the 
two characteristics, we repeat, of simplicity of 
mind, are to admire before comprehending and 
to reject all that is beyond its own small intel- 
lectual field of action. This shows ignorance of 
the lowest type, for a cow can do that good. 

The unrestrained admiration of idiots, crimi- 
nals, and even the insane, by the people of all 
ages, is one of the best examples of the simplic- 
ity and depravity of mankind. On this condi- 
tion of the human being, Homer expresses him- 
self as follows : 



30 CcBsar^s Character 

'^For oh, what is there of inferior birth 
That breathes or creeps upon the dust of earth, 
What wretched creature of what wretched kind 
Than man more weak, calamitous and blind?" 

Bacon says on this subject: ^'The common 
people understand not many excellent virtues; 
the lowest virtues draw praise from them, the 
middle virtues work in them astonishment or 
admiration, but of the highest virtues they have 
no sense or perceiving at all."^ The world is, 
furthermore, filled with folly and ridiculousness, 
and men are ruled by evil passions ; but let the 
advice be given, rather than have men controlled 
by the latter let them have reason. There is 
nothing more solid and reliable, and in times of 
distress and misfortune nothing will help us 
more, for to be without reason is like being 
without a home. 

Man, however, must be dealt with as he is. 
Men that are naturally passionate and lose their 
control, or indulge in some desperate act, are 
regarded by people as doing properly and natu- 
rally, and are seldom blamed; whereas, a man 
that seldom loses his self-control, upon some 
occasion arousing him, even though it be in his 
own defense, he is abhorred and condemned 
by all. Which fact shows the ignorance and un- 
fairness of mankind. For in the latter case of 
a man who seldom resorts to a desperate or vio- 
lent act, he is little experienced, and as a result 
his action is extremely awkward and unskillful, 

^Bacon — "Works," p. 485. 



The Simplicity of Man 31 

and men condemn it. In the former case of 
the man who is naturally given to acts of pas- 
sion, there is a smoothness and naturalness 
about it that makes it acceptable to men; but 
this naturalness has come by experience and 
practice! In the same way, men's faults are 
attacked not so much for their corruption as 
for their easiness of approach. Some men will 
commit the worst crimes possible, and cover 
them up so well that few will attempt to expose 
them; others will commit a lesser crime, and 
by not showing concealment, but rather remorse, 
make it an attractive object of attack, and all 
shout their condemnation. This is the case in 
the characters of Julius Caesar and Alexander 
the Great. Let historians and biographers lift 
their heads and take notice. 

Men, as has been said, judge faults not by 
their corruption, but by their weakness; like- 
wise, men assist the strong and crush the weak, 
for how many men are not of that kind that 
Johnson describes, who "look with unconcern 
on a man struggling for life in the water, and 
when he has reached ground encmnber him with 
help ' ' ? We think we are not overstating it when 
we say that the majority of mankind are of that 
sort. Nor do we disparage Johnson when we 
say so, for the author is a too decided pro- 
Johnson man to consciously depreciate the lat- 
ter by applying to the mass of humanity what 
he had occasion to apply to one man. 

The world has not only abused its best men 
by exile or death, and harbored its worst men, 



32 C Cesar's Character 

but it has seldom recognized its best men until 
long after they were gone. ' ' After death, ' ' says 
Lombroso, ^'they receive monuments and rhet- 
oric by way of compensation."^ Very few of 
the pioneers of truth have been recognized as 
such during their lifetime. When a matter is 
set before the world, let it be the emblem of 
truth itself, following is the way the world re- 
ceives it: First, it is sneered at, made fun of, 
rejected, and opposed. The world is always un- 
willing to receive it or give it any credit; then, 
after it has been rejected without receiving the 
semblance of consideration, it is attacked in 
various unfair ways and its promoters abused; 
and lastly — and this depends largely upon the 
condition of the people when the matter is in- 
troduced — the matter is cautiously considered, 
as if it were some reptile that might bite; but 
seeing that the arguments and evidence are 
sound, the investigators summon courage to pro- 
ceed, and finally, having criticised, examined, 
and analyzed the matter, see that it is, on the 
whole, sound and true. And then the investi- 
gators establish the truth of the matter. Thus 
the very thing that had been sneered at, laughed 
at, rejected without consideration, attacked 
without fairness, and lastly, analyzed in a hos- 
tile spirit, is finally established.^ 

Why don't men see these things'? Why don't 
they stop and think about these matters? Why 

^Lombroso— "Man of Genius," Preface. 
2 The writer knows of no great discovery, theory, or truth 
in the world that has been an exception. 



The Simplicity of Man 33 

don't they consider them? Is there danger in 
thought! Is it something poisonous? 

It is sometimes the case that when men are 
compelled to think, it is like labor in its effects, 
for they turn upon the one that put them to 
work and vent their clownish rage. We hope 
this will not be the case with those we address, 
for that would be driving them from one form 
of stupidity to another. 

The second reason for the condition stated is 
that men do not live by the principle of right 
and wrong, but by the principle of ''what we 
want." The world only accepts what it wants, 
and the greatest works of literature describe 
worldly pleasures and human passions in their 
worst forms; works possessing more strength 
than merit hold their place at first, but the works 
of real merit are seldom readily accepted, but 
must find their way to the hearts and minds of 
men by a slow and oft obstructed process. Even 
after they have established themselves, the loose 
expressions are taken advantage of, the best 
passages distorted from their intended mean- 
ing, and the author condemned in places where 
neither can be done. The power that evil men of 
this world have over literature does not extend 
only to the suppression of works in favor of 
justice, that were not of the greatest strength, 
but to construing the various passages in the 
works of the greatest and best writers. The pas- 
sages we refer to are intended to teach a moral 
lesson, set forth the weakness of mankind or 
expose the use of guile and craft in men ; in any 



34 CcBsar's Character 

case, they were not intended for arguments in 
favor of immoral life. Yet these passages are 
distorted by evil men to be used in their argu- 
ments in defense of the evil lives and practices 
of men. Instances of this are given later from 
the works of Shakespere, Milton, and Dante. 

Schlegel, in speaking of Shakespere, says: 
^'He has, in fact, never varnished over wild and 
bloodthirsty passions with a pleasing exterior, 
never clothed crime and a want of principle with 
a false show of greatness of soul; and in that 
respect he is in every way deserving of praise. ' '^ 
Men have not seen that Shakespere was teach- 
ing a moral lesson when he exposed the vices of 
evil men and made them repulsive ; but for these 
very things he has been called ^'barbarian," 
^ ignorant," and "unpolished." Thus it is 
throughout his works (and the works of other 
great writers suffer a similar fate) that when 
he moralizes in any form, if his meaning can- 
not be distorted from the purpose intended, he 
is condemned in some such form as has been 
shown. 

The description of worldly pleasures and hu- 
man passions in their worst forms, we repeat, 
are the two chief qualities in the great works ad- 
mired by the world. We have in mind a certain 
passage from Lucretius which the world has 
been accustomed to praise and admire. We will 
not allow the passage to be seen in our pages. 



^Schlegel — "Ijectures on Dramatic Art and Literature," p. 
367. 



The Simplicity of Man 35 

but the last two lines, in particular, have been 
admired : 

' '■ Thy charms in that transporting moment try. 
And softest language to his heart apply.'' 

Men admire this without thinking that this 
identical thing is done by every harlot and low 
woman all over the world. Yet the world would 
care very little for Lucretius, Catullus, Ovid, 
Goethe, if these two elements were taken out of 
their works. JSFevertheless, there is much to be 
laid at the door of those authors who give divine 
beings and the leaders of the human race de- 
graded qualities. 

The ancients were more gifted than men of 
to-day, but the great fault of the ancients was 
their wasting of the vital forces in various ways. 
Particularly appalling was the abuse to which 
they subjected the sexual instinct; so much so, 
in fact, that it is a wonder the human race did 
not become extinct. When we look upon the 
facts given us, and consider Lombroso's grave 
words, ^'It is permitted to no one to expend 
inore than a certain quantity of force without 
being severely punished on the other side,"^ it 
is no difficult thing to see why we have become 
such little men. For since man put his powers 
and gifts to evil purposes, is it not proper that 
he should not have the powers and gifts that he 
formerly had ! ^ ' Say not thou, What is the cause 
that the former days were better than these? for 

^Lombroso— "Man of Genius/' p. 30, 



36 CcEsar's Character 

thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this."^ 
Men admit the deterioration of nations and 
races, caused by the evil of its inhabitants — the 
Persians, Greeks, and Romans, for example — 
for it is impossible to deny it. Is it too far for 
men to see that the human race, as a whole, for 
the same reasons, should deteriorate ? The fact 
is that it does. But our point is that this de- 
terioration of the human race is caused by the 
evil of its inhabitants. It is not a punishment, 
it is not the Divine Hand ; it is the natural and 
inevitable outcome; but this does not make the 
fact the less positive. 

A/^Tlien one wishes to set men's faces in the 
right direction he must first draw them away 
from their wrong and crooked paths. Next to the 
actual use of force, condenmation is the most ef- 
fective thing to check the wicked career of men. 
All the praising of good men in the world does 
not affect the downward course of humanity. 

Cato the Elder is better known for his con- 
demning the Greek luxuries and customs and 
the prosperity of Carthage than for any praise 
he bestowed upon mankind; Cato the Younger 
spoke much louder in condemning Julius Caesar 
than he did in praising the actions of Cicero or 
Pompey ; Demosthenes is best known for his in- 
vectives against Philip of Macedon; Cicero 
came out in his best colors when denouncing 
Catiline and Antonj^ And is this a wonder 
when we recollect that there is so much to con- 
demn and so little, comparatively, to praise? 
^pcclesiastes vii, 10. 



The Simplicity of Man 37 

The immediate cause of this condemnation, as 
has been said, is the fact that good men realize 
that all the praise in the world has no effect 
upon the downward career of men. That is the 
reason that Charlemagne had to use force to put 
down and convert to Christianity the heathen 
Saxons and infidels. ''Soft persuasion," as a 
Saxon writer afterward said in his defense, 
"and sage argument" had no effect. Not that 
the writer advises the stamping out of one evil 
by the use of another, but to call attention to 
the fact that that is the most effective way of 
doing so. Only in small sections of the world, 
however, can force be used advantageously ; the 
pen must be relied upon to reach all parts of it. 

We have spoken of writers having severely 
condemned our subject, but not having the de- 
sired effect upon the world. We will conclude 
by giving an example that can well be applied 
to this case. A young man who was known for 
his sound and forcible moralizing was to read a 
written speech before an audience of some 
thirty people. As has been said, he was known 
for his forcible moralizing and had thereby in- 
curred the displeasure of many. When he faced 
the audience, he perceived a certain positive at- 
titude in them and a feeling that he knew well, 
but which he had never before experienced so 
strongly, came over him. He had the paper in 
both hands, opened, and was ready to read it 
when he seemed to pause, then quickly folded 
the paper and, crushing it in his left hand, said : 
"I perceive a certain feeling as if some fifty 



38 Ccesar^s Character 

people were trying to push me back into the 
wall; what does it mean? I will tell yon. It 
means that you are not willing to hear what I 
wished to say. This attitude has but one mean- 
ing; it means that you have closed your minds, 
that you may not see what I wished to impart. 
But let me inform you, fellow-beings, men's 
minds can never receive the truth in that atti- 
tude. It was my intention to give a written 
speech, but I have given one extempore." We 
wish to be more patient, and hope men are in 
that position to receive our written speech. 



BOOK II 
THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE 

THE AKGUMENT 

The opinion of important authorities on this 
matter, both ancient and modern. The speech of 
Cato. Caesar narrowly escaped being convicted 
of complicity in this plot. Mommsen on the 
Conspiracy of Cataline. 



As THIS subject is important, beyond making 
a few remarks we will say nothing, but will 
place before men the opinions of important au- 
thorities on the matter. 

Warde Fowler says of it: ^'It has always 
been and always will be a debatable question 
how far Csesar and Crassus were concerned in 
it [the plot]. We incline here to the conclusion 
that they had some knowledge of it, as of the 
earlier plot, but inwardly reserved the right to 
betray it if it should seem good to them. They 
might use it, if it were successful, for their own 
ends; when it promised to be a failure they 
probably gave information about it to the gov- 
ernment."^ 

^W. Fowler — "Csesar," p. 79. 
39 



40 CcBsar's Character 

De Quincey: ^^It is familiarly known that 
he [Caesar] was engaged pretty deeply in the 
conspiracy of Catiline, and that he incurred 
considerable risk on that occasion ; but it is less 
known, and has indeed escaped the notice of 
historians generally, that he was a party to at 
least two other conspiracies. '^^ 

Wilkinson: ^'The mere existence of the sus- 
picion tends to show how active [in a bad sense] 
and how unscrupulous in politics Caesar was 
held to be."- And then refers to Mommsen's 
statements on the matter. 

Lamartine: '^With the general impression 
of so extensive a plot, of which the chiefs 
alone were concealed, but of which the exist- 
ence was everywhere avowed by the members.''^ 
As Catiline was surely not concealed, Lamar- 
tine means no other than Caesar and Crassus. 

TroUope: ''If Caesar joined the plot we can 
well understand that Crassus should have gone 
with him. We have all but sufficient authority 
for saying that it was so, but authority insuffi- 
cient for declaring it. That Sallust should not 
have implicated Caesar was a matter of course, 
as he wrote altogether in Caesar's interest. 
That Cicero should not have mentioned it is 
also quite intelligible. He did not wish to pull 
down upon his ears the whole house of the aris- 
tocracy. If Caesar and Crassus could be got 
to keep themselves quiet he would be willing 

^De Quincey — "The Csesars," p. 51. 

^Wilkinson— "College Latin Courses in English," p. 57. 

''Lamartine — "Memoirs of Celebrated Characters," p. 355. 



The Conspiracy of Catiline 41 

enough not to have to add them to his list of 
enemies."^ On this point Plutarch has the fol- 
lowing embracing passage to offer: "Caesar, 
then a young man, and just in the dawn of pow- 
er, both in his measures and his hopes, was tak- 
ing that road which he continued in until he 
turned the Eoman commonwealth into a mon- 
archy. This was not observed by others, but 
Cicero had strong suspicions of him. He took 
care, however, not to give him a sufficient han- 
dle against him. Some say the consul had al- 
most got the necessary proofs [speaking of the 
plot], and that Caesar had a narrow escape. Oth- 
ers assert that Cicero purposely neglected the 
information that might have been had against 
him, for fear of his friends and his great in- 
terest. ''- 

Middleton: ''Thus ended this famed conspi- 
racy, in which some of the greatest men in 
Rome were suspected to be privately engaged, 
particularly Crassus and Caesar. They were 
both influenced by the same motives, and might 
hope, perhaps, by their interest in the city, to 
advance themselves, in the general confusion, 
to that sovereign power which they aimed at. 
Crassus, who had always been Cicero's enemy, 
by an officiousness of bringing letters and intel- 
ligence to him during the alarm of the plot, 

iTrollope— "Cicero," Vol. I, p. 217. 

^Plutarch — "Cicero," chap. 20. It must be remembered 
that Crassus and Caesar, at that time, were two of the most 
powerful and influential men of Rome. But for this they 
would have been convicted on the spot, along with Catiline, 
Cethegus and the rest. 



42 Caesar's Character 

seemed to betray a consciousness of some guilt 
and Ccesar's ivhole life made it probable that 
there could hardly be any plot in ivhich he had 
not some share/- and in this there was so gen- 
eral a suspicion upon him, especially after his 
speech in favor of the criminals, that he had 
some difficulty to escape with his life from the 
rage of the knights who guarded the avenues of 
the senate. "- 

Ben Jonson, who is considered by some as 
second to Shakespere, in his ^' Catiline'^ gave 
Caesar a place in the conspiracy. Frances Ba- 
con makes the positive statement that Caesar 
^'secretly blew the coals" of Catiline's conspi- 
racy! 

Thomson: ^^The extreme degree of profli- 
gacy at which the Romans were now arrived is 
in nothing more evident than that this age gave 
birth to the most horrible conspiracy which oc- 
curs in the annals of humankind, viz., that of 
Catiline, This was not the project of a few des- 
perate and abandoned individuals, but of a num- 
ber of men of the most illustrious rank in the 
state; and it appears, beyond doubt, that Jidius 
Ccesar tvas accessory to the design, which was no 
less than to extirpate the senate, divide 
amongst themselves both the public and private 
treasures, and set Rome on fire. The causes 
which prompted to this tremendous project, it 
is generally admitted, were luxury, prodigality, 

^The present writer has taken the liberty of emphasizing 
quoted passages, etc. 

-Middleton — "Cicero," p. 62 (one-volume edition). 



The Conspiracy of Catiline 43 

irreligion, a total corruption of manners, and, 
above all, as the immediate cause, the pressing 
necessity in which the conspirators were in- 
volved by their extreme dissipation."^ 

Plutarch offers the following passage on the 
intention of the conspirators, following it with 
an account of the speeches for and against the 
conspirators: "Their scheme was nothing less 
than to burn the city, and destroy the empire, 
by the revolt of the colonies and foreign wars. 
Upon the discovery of this conspiracy, Cicero, 
as we have observed in his Life, called a council ; 
and the first that spoke was Silanus. He gave 
it as his opinion that the conspirators should 
be punished with the utmost rigor. This opin- 
ion was adopted by the rest until it came to 
Caesar. This eloquent man, consistent with 
whose ambitious principles it was rather to en- 
courage than to suppress any threatening inno- 
vations, urged, in his usual persuasive manner, 
the propriety of allowing the accused the privi- 
lege of truce, and that the conspirators should 
only be taken into custody. The senate, who 
were under apprehensions from the people, 
thought it prudent to look into this measure; 
and even Silanus retracted, and declared he 
thought of nothing more than imprisonment, 
that being the most rigorous punishment a citi- 
zen of Rome could suffer. 

"This change of sentiments in those who 
spoke first was followed by the rest, who all 
gave in to milder measures. But Cato, who was 

^Thomson — "Suetonius," p. 57. 



44 Ccesar's Character 

of a contrary opinion, (1), defended that opinion 
with the greatest vehemence, eloquence and en- 
ergy. He reproached Silanus for his pusil- 
lanimity in changing his resolution. He at- 
tacked Ccesar^ and charged him with a secret 
design of subverting the government, under the 
plausible appearances of mitigating speeches 
and a humane conduct; of intimidating the sen- 
ate by the same means, even in a case ivhere he 
had to fear for himself, and ivherein he might 
think himself happy if he could be exempt from 
every imputation and suspicion of guilt; he who 
had openly and daringly attempted to rescue 
from justice the enemies of the state, and shown 
that, so far from having any compassion for his 
country, when on the brink of destruction, he 
could even pity and plead for the wretches, the 
unnatural wretches, that meditated its ruin, and 
grieve that their punishment should prevent 
their design."^ One of the passages of this 
speech of Cato, as recounted by Sallust, is as 
follows: ^^He [Caesar] accordingly proposed 
Hhat the property of the conspirators should 
be confiscated, and themselves kept in custody 
in the municipal towns'; fearing, it seems, that, 
if they remain at Eome, they may be rescued 
either by their accomplices in the conspiracy, or 
by a hired mob, as if, forsooth, the mischievous 

(1) According to Sallust, Cato opened his speech with 
the following words: "My feelings, conscript fathers, are ex- 
tremely different." 

^Attacked him by name in the senate. 
^Plutarch— "Cato," chaps. 22 and 23. 



The Conspiracy of Catiline 45 

and profligate were to be found only in the city, 
and not through the whole of Italy, or as if des- 
perate attempts would not be more likely to suc- 
ceed where there is less power to resist them. 
His proposal, therefore, if he fears any danger 
from them, is absurd ; but if, amid such univer- 
sal terror, he alone is free from alarm, it the 
more concerns me to fear for you and myself.'^ 
A significant statement ! 

Sallust tells us that ''when Cato had resumed 
his seat all the senators of consular dignity, 
and a great part of the rest, applauded his opin- 
ion, and extolled his firmness of mind to the 
skies. With mutual reproaches, they accused 
one another of timidity, while Cato was re- 
garded as the greatest and noblest of men; and 
a decree of the senate was made as he had ad- 
vised."^ History says that after his speech, 
and its masterly counterpart, Caesar barely es- 
caped with his life when leaving the senate, and 
"absented himself from the senate-house dur- 
ing the remainder of that year ' ' !^ 

Suetonius proceeds to tell us that ''he soon 
got into fresh trouble, being named amongst the 
accomplices of Catiline, both before Novius Ni- 
ger the quaestor, by Lucius Vettius the inform- 
er, and in the senate by Quintus Curtius; to 
whom a reward had been voted, for having first 
discovered the designs of the conspirators. 
Curtius affirmed that he had received his in- 
formation from Catiline. Vettius even en- 

^Sallust— "Catiline," LIII. 
^Suetoiii us— "Julius Cgesar," XIV. 



46 CcBsar's Character 

gaged to produce in evidence against him his 
own handwriting, given to Catiline. Caesar, feel- 
ing that this treatment was not to be borne, ap- 
pealed to Cicero himself, whether he had not 
voluntarily made a discovery to him of some 
particulars of the conspiracy; and so balked 
Curtius of his expected reward. He, therefore, 
obliged Vettius to give pledges for his behavior, 
seized his goods and, after heavily fining him 
and seeing him almost torn in pieces before the 
rostra, threw him into prison; to which he like- 
wise sent Novius the quaestor, for having pre- 
sumed to take an information against a magis- 
trate of superior authority."^ 

Following is the opinion of Mommsen, the 
Roman historian, on the Conspiracy of Catiline. 
The reader need not be reminded that Mommsen 
was one of the four greatest admirers^ of Julius 
Caesar. 

Of the first conspiracy Mommsen says: '^As 
to the main matter — the participation of Caesar 
and Crassus — the testimony of their political 
opponents certainly cannot be regarded as suf- 
ficient evidence of it. But their notorious ac- 
tion at this epoch corresponds with striking ex- 
actness to the secret action which that report 
ascribes to them. The attempt of Crassus who, 
in this year, was censor, officially to enroll the 
Transpadones in the burgess-list was itself 
directly a revolutionary enterprise. [Crassus 



^Suetonius — "Julius Csesar," XVII. 

2 This expression refers to literary men. 



The Conspiracy of Catiline 47 

and Caesar wished to get the help of the Trans- 
padones in their conspiracies.] 

^'It is still more remarkable that Crassus, on 
the same occasion, made preparations to enroll 
Egypt and Cyprus in the list of Roman do- 
mains, and that Csesar, about the same time 
(689 or 690), got a proposal submitted by some 
tribunes to the burgesses, to send him to Egypt 
in order to reinstate King Ptolemgeus, whom 
the Alexandrians had expelled. " [It seems that 
Caesar and Crassus had intended to make Eg^^pt 
the headquarters of the democracy; Mommsen 
speaks of this on the next page.] These machi- 
nations suspiciously coincide with the charges 
made by their antagonists. ''There is great 
probability, ' ' he says further on, "that Crassus 
and Caesar had projected a plan to possess 
themselves of the military dictatorship during 
the absence of Pompeius; that Egypt was se- 
lected as the basis of the democratic military 
power; and that, in fine, the insurrectionary 
attempt of 689 had been contrived to realize 
these projects, and Catiline and Piso had thus 
been tools in the hands of Crassus and CcBsar/'^ 

Of the second conspiracy Mommsen says: "It 
is important to keep in view that tlie blow fell 
by no means merely on the anarchists proper, 
who had conspired to set the capital on fire and 

^Mommsen — "Rome," Vol. IV, chap V. Mommsen here re- 
fers to the first conspiracy of Catiline, which Suetonius 
describes fully, and tells, in plain and unmistakable lan- 
guage, that "Crassus was to assume the office of dictator, 
and appoint Caesar his master of the horse." 



48 CcBsar's Character 

had fought at Pistoria, but on the whole demo- 
cratic party. That this party, and in particular 
Crassus and Cassar, had a hand in the game on 
the present occasion, as well as in the plot of 
GSSy"- may be regarded not in a juristic, but in 
an historical point of view as an ascertained 
fact. That they were accused of complicity by 
Catullus, and that Csesar spoke and voted 
against the judicial murder of the prisoners, is, 
of course, no proof; but there are other facts 
of greater weight. ' '- 

Prepare yourself, dear reader, to hear the 
opinion of one of Csesar 's greatest admirers on 
his complicity in the conspiraicy of Catiline. 
^'(1) Crassus and Caesar supported the candi- 
dature of Catiline for the consulship. (2) When 
Cnesar, in 690, brought the executioners of Sul- 
la before the commission for murder he allowed 
the rest to be condemned, but the most guilty 
and infamous of all, Catiline, to be acquitted. 
(3) In his revelation to the senate Cicero did not, 
indeed, include the names of Caesar and Cras- 
sus; but it is known that he erased the names 
of many innocent persons,' and in later years 
he named CcEsar as among the accomplices.^ (4) 
The turning over of Gabinius and Statilius to 
Caesar and Crassus. [These were two of the 
conspirators, and this was done to see if they 

iHe means both conspiracies of Catiline. 

2The present writer has quoted from both the "Rome" 
and the "Roman Republic." 

3 Suetonius mentions a letter, and Plutarch spoke of an 
oration, in which Cicero states that Caesar was implicated 
in this conspiracy. 



The Conspiracy of Catiline 49 

would let them (the former) go, which, of 
course, would establish their complicity ; where- 
as, if they retained them, they would have to 
bear the criticism of their accomplices.] (5) 
After the arrest of Lentulus, a messenger from 
him to Catiline was arrested and brought be- 
fore the senate; but when, in his evidence, he 
mentioned Crassus as having commissioned 
him, he was interrupted, his whole statement 
was canceled at the suggestion of Cicero, and 
he was committed to prison until he should con- 
fess who had suborned him. The senate was 
clearly afraid to let the revelations go beyond 
a certain limit. The general public was less 
scrupulous, and Caesar narrowly escaped with 
his life when he left the senate on the 5th of 
December. (6) When Caesar had made himself 
head of the state he was in close alliance with 
Publius Sittius, the only surviving Catilinarian 
and the leader of the Mauritanian banditti. (7) 
The facts that the government offered no seri- 
ous hindrance to the conspiracy until the last mo- 
ment; that the chief conspirator [Catiline] was 
allowed to depart unmolested; that the troops 
sent against the insurrection were put under 
the command of Antonius, who had been deeply 
concerned in the plot, all point to the suspicion 
that there were powerful men behind the scenes 
who threw their protection over the conspiracy 
while they themselves kept in the background. ' ' 
The author dropped Mommsen's argument 
here, but the latter goes on with additional ar- 
guments. One of the things he says is: ^^When 



50 C Cesar's Character 

Caesar had got the upper hand [became Dicta- 
tor] the veil was drawn all the more closely 
over the darker years of his life, and even spe- 
cial apologies for him were written with that 
purpose."^ 

This, dear reader, is the judgment of Momm- 
sen, the king of Eoman historians, on Caesar's 
connection with the conspiracies of Catiline, 
and we consider it of sufficient weight to con- 
clude with it, informing the reader that these 
plots against the government were Caesar's first 
steps toward imperial power. 

^Mommsen considers that Sallust's "Catiline" is such an 
apology. 



BEGINNING OF THE CIVIL WAR 

THE ARGUMENT 

The writer has the historians speak of this 
matter. Appian on the Beginning of the Civil 
War. A few remarks. Cicero's letters on this 
period. 



This, again, is an important matter, and 
again we will say little, but have our authorities 
speak of the matter. 

Appian: ''CaBsar induced the tribunes to 
bring in a law to enable him to stand for the 
consulship a second time while absent. Caesar 
suspected that the senate would resist the pro- 
ject, and feared lest he should be reduced to the 
condition of a private citizen and exposed to his 
enemies. So he tried to retain his power until 
he should be elected consul, and asked the sen- 
ate to grant him a little more time in his pres- 
ent command of Gaul, or of a part of it. 

^'Pompey and the senate ordered that Caesar's 
command must come to an end immediately on 
its expiration. The bitterest enemies of Caesar 
were then chosen consuls for the ensuing year, 
Emilius Paulus and Claudius Marcellus, cousin 

51 



52 C Cesar's Character 

of the Marcellus before mentioned. Curio, who 
was also a bitter enemy of Caesar, was chosen 
tribune. Caesar was not able to influence Clau- 
dius with money, but he bought the neutrality 
of Paulus for 1,500 talents and the assistance of 
Curio with a still larger sum, because he knew 
that the latter was heavily burdened with 
clebt."^ Curio then proceeded to work secretly 
for Caesar. 

^^When Claudius proposed the sending of suc- 
cessors to take command of Caesar's provinces, 
Curio, speaking for Caesar, said that Pompey 
ought to resign his provinces and army, just 
like Caesar; for, in this way, he said, the com- 
monwealth would be made free and be relieved 
from fear in all directions. Many opposed this 
as unjust, because Pompey 's term had not yet 
expired. ' '^ 

The senate had asked Caesar to give up his 
army tvhen his term expired. Caesar then de- 
manded that Pompey also give up his army be- 
fore his term expired. And so when the senate 
would not grant Caesar more time in his prov- 
ince than his term specified, because Pompey 
would not give up his army at Caesar's com- 
mand, when he had a perfect right to it, Caesar 
pushed on the civil war and made that bid for 
the supreme head of the Roman state that he 
had been planning and waiting for for years. 

When Caesar sent the two legions to Rome, 

that the senate and Pompey had ordered him to 

^"Roman History," B. II, chap. IV. 
2Ibid. 



Beginning of the Civil War 53 

give up for the Syrian expedition, Appian says 
of these soldiers: "They knew what his [Caes- 
ar's] designs were, but stood by him neverthe- 
less. '^ They knew that Caesar intended to over- 
throw the existing government, and instead of 
feeling compunction were attached to Caesar on 
account of the promise of plunder; they had 
also been bribed to stand by him before he let 
them go. 

When Curio's term as tribune expired he 
fled to Caesar, where he told the latter of the 
weak state of Pompey's conmiand, and urged 
him to march to Rome at once. The latter sent 
him back to the senate with a letter, in which 
he said ''that he would lay down his command 
at the same time with Pompey, but that if Pom- 
pey should retain his command he would not lay 
down his own, but ivould come quickly and 
avenge his country's ivrongs and his oivn/' 

It has already been shown how little right 
Caesar had in demanding that Pompey should 
give up his army, but he already looked upon 
himself as Dictator, and commanded the senate 
to have Pompey lay down his command, and 
then adds that if his demands are not fulfilled 
he ''would come quickly and avenge his coun- 
try's wrongs."^ 

^Caesar never made a more ridiculous statement; it was 
he (J. Caesar) that, all his life, plotted and fought against 
his own country; then he speaks of "avenging his country's 
wrongs"! As Cicero says of this time: "He strove on with 
the war with all his might, and at the same time talked of 
nothing but peace." (But this is only one instance of the 
man's duplicity — he played a double game all his life.) 



54 Ccesar^s Character 

It should be remarked that Caesar declared 
in this letter that he would come quickly and 
avenge his wrongs ; in other words, declare war 
upon his own country. After the war was be- 
gun, Caesar declared that "his wrongs'' were 
the insult (as he called it) offered to the tri- 
bunes, his lieutenants Antony and Cassius. But 
his lieutenants assumed fear, and flight to 
Caesar, and their being shown in disguise to his 
soldiers did not happen until after he was go- 
ing to "come quickly and avenge his country's 
wrongs ' ' ! 

^ ^ When this letter was read, as it was consid- 
ered a declaration of tear, a vehement shout 
was raised on all sides that Lucius Domitius be 
appointed Caesar's successor. Domitius took 
the field with 4,000 of the new levies." This let- 
ter was considered as a declaration of war be- 
cause every one knew that Pompey would not 
give up his command before his term expired 
merely because Caesar said that unless he did so 
there would be war. That is the way J. Caesar 
pushed on the civil war. 

It should be emphasized that Caesar requested 
things of the senate that nobody short of the 
Eoman Dictator had authority to ask. He asked 
the senate that he might run for the consulship 
while not in Rome, for a prolongation of his 
term in office, that Pompey disband his army 
before his term expired, an extension of his 
provinces, and more legions for his army. 

It is important that this fact should be em- 
phasized, because Caesar gives as one of the two 



Beginning of the Civil War 55 

immediate causes of the war the fact that the 
senate would not acquiesce to his unjust re- 
quests. 

Since Antony and Cassius, who succeeded 
Curio as tribune, agreed with the latter in 
opinion, the senate became more bitter than 
ever, and declared Pompey's army the protec- 
tor of Eome, and that of Caesar as the public ene- 
my. (It must be remembered that all the his- 
torians state these facts.) 

"The consuls, Marcellus and Lentulus, ordered 
Antony and his friends out of the senate, lest 
they should suffer some harm, although they 
were tribunes. Then Antony sprang from his 
chair in anger, and with a loud voice called gods 
and men to witness the indignity put upon the 
sacred and inviolable office of tribune, etc. Hav- 
ing spoken thus, he rushed out like one pos- 
sessed, predicting war, slaughter, proscription, 
banishment, confiscation, and various other im- 
pending evils, and invoking direful curses on 
the authors of them. Curio and Cassius rushed 
out with him, for a detachment of Pompey's 
army was already observed standing around 
the senate-house. ' '^ 

Antony "rushed out like one possessed, pre- 
dicting war, slaughter, proscription, banish- 
ment, confiscation," etc. Antony, like the sol- 
diers Caesar had sent to Kome for the Syrian 
expedition, ''knew ivhat his designs were.'' 
When he spoke as he did he knew that the 

^"Roman History," B. II, chap. V. 



56 CcBsar's Character 

war was as good as begun, and that as soon 
as Cassius, Curio and himself — Caesar's lieu- 
tenants — got back to CtTsar's army actual hos- 
tilities would begin. "The tribunes made their 
way to Caesar the next day with the utmost 
speed, concealing themselves in a hired car- 
riage and disguised as slaves. Caesar showed 
them in this condition to his army, whom he 
excited by saying that his soldiers, after all 
their great deeds, had been stigmatized as pub- 
lic enemies, and that distinguished men like 
these, who had dared to speak out for them [the 
soldiers], had been thus driven with ig-nominy 
from the city. The war had now been begun on 
both sides and already openly declared. ' '^ 

The fact must be emphasized that Caesar 
crossed the Kubicon and took possession of Ari- 
minum he fore he knew that the tribunes, An- 
tony and Cassius, had departed from Rome, 
for it was there that he met them. He, there- 
fore, started hostilities for one of two causes, 
either of which is a thread and a very ragged 
one. 

Suetonius says that Caesar received intelli- 
gence that the tribunes had been rejected and 
had fled from the city. There were many re- 
ports and rumors rife in Italy at this time, but 
this one suited Caesar's j)urpose so well that he 
thought it a sufficient cause to commence hos- 
tilities; or (2), the sending of the tribunes to 
Rome, their assumed fear and flight was a fixed 

^Appian — "Roman History," B. II, chap. V. 



Beginning of the Civil War 57 

affair, certain persons being employed to in- 
form Caesar immediately npon the flight of his 
lieutenants, so he could advance with his army. 

This fact, his crossing the Rubicon and tak- 
ing possession of Italian towns before he knew 
if his embassy had succeeded, coupled with his 
reasons for commencing the war, namely, that 
the senate would not comply with his unjust and 
out-of-place demands, and the ''insult of the tri- 
bunes, ' ' show probably better than anything else 
the anxiety that Cassar had to push on the civ- 
il war, which thing he had plotted and intrigued 
for all his life. 

Plutarch says of Caesar and Gaul before the 
civil war : ' ' In the meanwhile the wars in Gaul 
lifted Caesar to the first sphere of greatness. The 
scene of action was at a great distance from 
Rome, and he seemed to be wholly engaged with 
the Belgae, the Suevi, and the Britons ; but his 
genius all the while was privately at work 
among the people of Rome, and he was under- 
mining Pompey in his most essential interests. 
His IV ar ivitJi the barbarians ivas not his prin- 
cipal object. He exercised his army, indeed, in 
those expeditions, as he would have done his 
own body in hunting and other diversions of 
the field; by which he prepared them for higher 
conflicts and rendered them not only formida- 
ble but invincible.''^ 

Again, in the ''Life of Caesar,'' he tells us 
that, "Caesar, from the first designing to ruin 
his rivals, had retired at a distance, like a cham- 

1" Life of Pompey.'* 



58 Ccesar^s Character 

pion, for exercise. By long service, and great 
achievements in the wars in Gaul, he had so im- 
proved his army, and his own reputation, too, 
that he was considered upon a footing with 
Pompey; and he found pretenses for carrying 
his enterprise into execution in the times of the 
misgovernment at Eome." 

Suetonius says of Caesar's attitude in the be- 
ginning of the civil war : ' ' Some think that, hav- 
ing contracted, from long habit, an extraordi- 
nary love of power, and having weighed his own 
and his enemies ' strength, he embraced that oc- 
casion of usurping the supreme power; which, 
indeed, he had coveted from the time of his 
youth. ' ' And this seems to have been the opin- 
ion of most of the ancient historians. It should 
be remembered that the same historian, speak- 
ing earlier of Caesar and the men he gathered, 
says: "He offered, also, singular and ready 
aid to all who were under prosecution or in 
debt, and to prodigal youths; excluding from 
his bounty those only who were so deeply 
plunged in guilt, poverty, or luxury, that it was 
impossible to effectually relieve them. These, 
he openly declared, could derive no benefit from 
any other means than a civil war"!^ 

Of the beginning of the civil war Lamar- 
tine, the French historian, speaks as follows: 
"Caesar, tired of waiting to receive from Pom- 
pey and the senate gratifications corresponding 
to his ambition, at length decided on making 
war on his country. Descending from the Alps 
^Suetonius — "Julius Caesar," XXVII. 



Beginning of the Civil War 59 

upon lower Italy, at the head of several legions, 
he had crossed the Rubicon, a little rivulet 
which formed the legal boundary of his govern- 
ment of Gaul, the forcible passage of which 
declared him a public enemy. ' The die is cast, ' 
was Caesar's exclamation on spurring, after 
long hesitation, his horse into the waters of the 
Eubicon. That exclamation was the end of the 
Republic." Lamartine goes on to say that lib- 
erty could now no longer exist, and Italy be- 
came the prey and the sport of ambition. "All 
Italy," he goes on, "nevertheless shuddered at 
Caesar's attempt. One universal cry of horror 
and indignation ivos raised^ from the Rubicon 
to Rome, and from Rome to the remotest prov- 
inces under her dominion." He then explains 
that the people no longer believed in virtue; 
they believed in shame. "But the shameless 
crime of the Rubicon made the very soil of 
Italy tremble. It was for a moment expected 
that the ground would open up and swallow the 
wretch who had dared to turn the arms of Rome 
against Rome herself. 

' ' Caesar was astonished at the general excite- 
ment produced by his audacity, and endeavored 
to allay it by representing to the populations of 
the districts through which he passed that he 
was a victim of the ingratitude of Pompey and 
of the senate; and that he came not to enslave 
his country, but to demand justice for his sol- 
diers and himself. He pretended to negotiate, 
to offer and to discuss temperate conditions of 
concord and peace, while his lieutenants and 



60 CcBsar's Character 

emissaries, by presents and intimidation, were 
bargaining, decoying, and buying Rome itself 
within its own walls.'" 

The thorough, if plodding, Middleton has an 
embracing passage on the beginning of this 
war: 

"The senate, at Scipio's motion, had just 
voted a decree that Caesar should dismiss his 
army by a certain day, or be declared an ene- 
my; and when M. Antony and Q. Cassius, two 
of the tribunes, opposed their negative to it, as 
they had done to every other decree proposed 
against Ca3sar, and could not be persuaded by 
the entreaties of their friends to give way to 
the authority of the senate, they proceeded to 
that vote which was the last resort in cases of 
extremity, that the consuls, praetors, tribunes, 
and all who were about the city with pro-consu- 
lar power, should take care that the Republic 
received no detriment. As this was supposed 
to arm the magistrates with an absolute power 
to treat all men as they pleased, whom they 
judged to be enemies, so the two tribunes, to- 
gether with Curio, immediately withdrew them- 
selves from it and fled, in disguise, to Caesar's 
camp, on pretense of danger and violence to 
their persons, though none was yet offered or 
designed to them." — Ep. Fam., XVI, 11. 

"It is certain," says Middleton, "that An- 
tony's flight gave the immediate pretext to it 
[civil war], as Cicero had foretold." — Plutarch. 

^Lamartine — "Memoirs of Celebrated Characters," p. 387. 



Beginning of the Civil War 61 

^^ ^Caesar/ says lie, 'will betake himself to 
arms, either from our want of preparation or 
if no regard be had to him at the election of 
consuls ; but especially if any tribune, obstruct- 
ing the deliberations of the senate, or exciting 
the people to sedition, should happen to be cen- 
sured, or overruled, or taken off, or expelled, 
or pretending to be expelled, run away to 
him.' ''— Ad. Att., VII, 9. 

''In the same letter he gives a short but true 
state of the merits of his own cause [to be read 
as if addressed to Caesar]. 'What,' says he, 'can 
be more impudent? You have held your gov- 
ernment ten years not granted to you by the 
senate, hut extorted by violence and faction. 

" 'The full term is expired, not of the law, 
but of your licentious will : but allow it to be a 
law, it is now decreed that you must have a suc- 
cessor. You refuse and say, "Have some regard 
to me. ' ' Do you first show your regard to us. 
Will you pretend to keep an army longer than 
the people ordered, and contrary to the will of 
the senate!'" (Ad. Att., VII, 9). But Cesar's 
strength lay not in the goodness of his cause, 
but in his troops (Veil. Pat., II, 49), a consid- 
erable part of which he was now drawing to- 
gether toward the confines of Italy, to be ready 
to enter into action at any warning. The flight 
of the tribunes gave him a plausible handle to 
begin, and seemed to sanctify his attempt. ' ' But 
his real motive," says Plutarch, "was the same 
that animated Cyrus and Alexander before him, 
to disturb the peace of mankind : the unquench- 



62 Ccesar's Character 

able thirst of empire, and the wild ambition of 
being the greatest man in the world, which was 
not possible till Pompey was first destroyed/' 
— Plutarch, in Anthony. 

'^ Laying hold, therefore, of this occasion, he 
presently passed the Rubicon, which was the 
boundary of his province on that side of Italy, 
and marching forward in a hostile manner, pos- 
sessed himself, without resistance, of the next 
great towns in his way — Ariminum, Pisaurum, 
Ancona, Aretium, etc.'' 

Following is a letter written after the city 
had fallen into the hands of Caesar: "What, I 
beseech you, is all this? Or what are people 
about? For I am quite in the dark. ^We have 
got possession,' you say, 'of Cingrelum; we 
have lost Anconis ; Labienus has deserted from 
Caesar.' Are we speaking of a Eoman general 
or of Hannibal? wretched man, and void of 
understanding, ivho has never knoivn even the 
shadow of ivhat is truly honorable! Yet he pro- 
fesses to do all this for honor's sake. But how 
can there be honor where there is not rectitude? 
Or is it right, then, to have an army without any 
public appointment? To occupy the towns of 
Roman citizens, in order to get a readier access 
to his own country? To cancel debts, to recall 
exiles, to institute six hundred other wicked 
practices, 'in order to obtain (as Eteocles says) 
the greatest kingdom of the gods ' ? I envy him 
not his fortune."^ 

"You see the nature of this contest. It 

^Ad. Att, VIL 11. 



Beginning of the Civil War 63 

is a civil war of such a kind as does not 
arise from divisions among the members of 
the state, hut from the audacity of one aban- 
doned citizen. He is powerful from his army; 
he retains many by hopes and promises, but 
really aims at i:)ossessing everything belonging 
to everybody. To this man has the city been di- 
vided up, full of supplies and without a garri- 
son. What is there that you may not dread from 
one who regards those temples and houses not 
as his country, but as his prey!"^ 

Caesar tried to coax Cicero to help him, as is 
seen in the letter that follows : 

^^I have done both according to your ad- 
vice: having ordered my discourse so that 
he should rather think well of me than thank 
me; and having adhered to my intention of 
not going to the city. I was mistaken in sup- 
posing that he would easily be persuaded. I 
never knew anybody less so. He said that he 
stood condemned by my resolution; and that 
others would be slower to comply, if I refused 
to attend. I replied that their case was different 
from mine. After a good deal of discussion, 
'Come, then,' said he, 'and propose terms of 
peace.' 'At my own discretion!' said I. 'Have 
I,' said he, 'any right to prescribe to youT 
'This,' I replied, 'is what I shall propose. 

" 'That it is not agreeable to the senate that 
troops should be sent to Spain ^ or that an army 
should be transported into Greece; and / shall 
lament at some length the situation of Pom- 

^Ad. Att, VII, 13. 



64 Ccesar^s Character 

peius/ Then he, 'But I do not like that to be 
said.' 'So I supposed/ said I; 'and for that 
reason I wish to absent myself, because I must 
either say this, and much more, which it will be 
impossible for me to withhold if I am there, or 
else I must stay away.' The conclusion was 
that, if he wished to get rid of the subject, he 
desired I would consider of it. This I could not 
refuse. So we parted. I imagine he was not 
much pleased with me; but I am pleased with 
myself, which I have not been for some time 
past. As for the rest, good heavens ! what a fol- 
lowing he has! Quite an 'Inferno,' as you are 
fond of describing it. It contained, among oth- 
ers, Celer's man Eros [freedman]. 0, the utter 
villainy — the gang of desperadoes ! [Cicero, dear 
reader, is describing the animals that composed 
Caesar's army, called, by some historians, his 
troops.] What do you say to a son of Sulpi- 
cius and another of Titinius being actually in 
an army besieging Pompeius! He is himself 
extremely vigilant and daring. I see no end of 
evil. Now, at least, you must deliver your opin- 
ion. What I have mentioned was the last thing 
that passed between us; yet what he said last, 
which I had almost omitted, was ungracious: 
that if he was not permitted to use my advice, 
he ivould use whose he could, and shoidd think 
nothing beneath him. You see the man there. As 
you expressed it, 'Were you grieved?' Un- 
doubtedly. 'Pray, what followed?' He went 
directly to Pedanum, I to Arpinum. Thence I 
look for your warbler [an expression probably 



Beginning of the Civil War 65 

used by Atticus, and meant tO' denote the fore- 
runner of spring"]. 'Plague on it,' you will 
say; 'do not act over again what is past; even 
he whom we follow has been much disap- 
pointed. ' But I expect your letter ; for nothing 
is now as it was before, when you proposed that 
we should first see how this would turn out. The 
last subject of doubt related to our interview; 
in which I question not that I have given Caesar 
some offense. This is a reason for acting 
quicker. Pray let me have a letter from you, 
and a political one. I am very anxious to hear 
from you. ' '^ 

As it is necessary to place before our read- 
ers the question of Caesar's suing for the con- 
sulship in his absence, we will quote Middleton 
on the matter : 

' ' Pompey, when he was consul the third time, 
in the year 701, procured a law empower- 
ing Csesar to offer himself as a candidate for 
the consulship, without appearing personally at 
Rome for that purpose. This was contrary to 
the fundamental principles of the Roman consti- 
tution and proved, in the event, the occasion of 
its being utterly destroyed.'' This, Middleton 
goes on to say, ' ' furnished Csesar with the only 
precious pretense for turning his arms against 
the Republic." 

''He [Pompey] proposed a law to dispense 
with Caesar's absence in suing for the consul- 
ship, of which Caesar, at that time, seemed very 
desirous. Caelius was the promoter of this law, 

^Ad. Att., IX, 18, 



66 CcEsar^s Character 

engaged to it by Cicero, at the joint request of 
Pompey and Caesar, and it was carried with the 
concurrence of all the tribunes, though not ivith- 
out cUificiiUy and obstruction from the senate."^ 

The historians have never taken Caesar's 
claim of the mistreated tribunes seriously. 

Trollope says of these tribunes: '^ Shall we 
forgive a house-breaker because the tools which 
he himself has invented are used at last upon 
his own door?" 

Caesar threatened to kill Metellus for defend- 
ing the treasury. Of this Arnold says : 

^^Thus, within the space of six months, the 
man who had attacked his country, under pre- 
tense of avenging the insults offered to the tri- 
bunal power, was himself guilty of a more vio- 
lent outrage upon that power, when exercised 
in as just a cause as could, on any occasion, have 
required its protection."^ 

Oman probably sums up this matter best: 
^^His ingenious pleas will not stand examina- 
tion — least of all, his solemn complaint that the 
Optimates had violated the constitution by dis- 
regarding the vetoes of his friends — the tri- 
bunes, Antony and Cassius. To any one who re- 
members how Caesar himself had treated tri- 
bunes and their vetoes during his consulship in 

^The senate was the only body that had the right to grant 
any such permissions. Therefore, when Caesar demanded 
this permission, that had been given him not only without 
but against the will of the senate, what legal right did he 
have in claiming it? So his "only precious pretense" can be 
seen to have been a very thin shadow. 

2" History of the Roman Commonwealth," p. 245, 



Beginning of the Civil War 67 

B. C. 59, it must appear ludicrous tliat lie should 
urge this particular grievance against his ad- 
versaries."^ 

Of Caesar's treatment of this tribune (Metel- 
lus) and his robbing of the treasury, hear Lu- 
can : 

He [Caesar] attempted to get money out of 
the treasury. Metellus resisted, but Cotta per- 
suaded the latter to yield. "Forthwith, Metel- 
lus led away, the Temple was opened wide. Then 
did the Tarpeian rock re-echo, and with a loud 
peal attest that the doors were opened; then, 
stowed away in the lower part of the Temple, 
was dragged up, untouched for many a year, the 
wealth of the Roman people, which the Punic 
wars, which Perseus, which the booty of the con- 
quered Philip, had supplied ; that which, Rome, 
Pyrrhus left to thee in his hurrying flight; the 
gold for which Fabius did not sell himself to 
the king; whatever you saved, manners of our 
thrifty forefathers; that which, as tribute, the 
wealth}^ nations of Asia had sent and Minoian 
Crete had paid to the conqueror Metellus ; that, 
too, which Cato brought from Cyprus over dis- 
tant seas. Besides the wealth of the East, 
the remote treasures of captive kings, which 
were borne before him in the triumphal proces- 
sions of Pompey, were carried forth. The Tem- 
ple was spoiled with direful rapine; and then, 
for the first time, was Rome poorer than 
Caesar. ' '^ 

^Oman — "Seven Roman Statesmen." 
^Lucan — "Pharsalia," B. III. 



C^SAR AND CLEOPATRA 

THE AKGUMENT 

The death of Pompey. Caesar's crocodile 
tears. Caesar infatuated with Cleopatra and un- 
able to break away. Lucan on Caesar and Cleo- 
patra. The effect of Caesar's folly. 



The Death of Pompey. — After Pompey had 
been defeated at the battle of Pharsalus he fled 
to Egypt as a refuge, where he met his death 
in the following manner: 

Appian: ''The king was then about thir- 
teen years of age, and was under the tutelage of 
Achilles, who commanded his army, and the 
eunuch, Pothinus, who had charge of the treas- 
ury. These took counsel together concerning 
Pompey. 

' ' There was present also Theodotus, a rheto- 
rician of Sarnos, the boy's tutor, who' offered the 
infamous advice that they should lay a trap for 
Pompey and kill him, in order to incur favor 
with Caesar. His opinion prevailed. 'Theodotus 
argued' (says Plutarch) 'that if they should 
give shelter to the fugitive they would have 



Ccesar and Cleopatra 69 

Caesar for an enemy and Pompey for a master; 
if they should send him away he would be of- 
fended by their want of hospitality, and Caesar 
would be angry with them for letting him es- 
cape. The best way would be to send for him 
and kill him! In that way they would gratify 
the one and need not fear the other. He added 
with a smile that dead men do not bite."^ 

This advice was taken, and Pompey the Great 
was murdered as he stepped ashore from his 
boat. Theodotus carried the head of Pompey 
concealed in a mantle, to Caesar, and made a 
speech to the latter that the deed had been done 
justly. Let Lucan tell it: "Thus having said, 
he uncovered the concealed head and held it up. 
The features, now languid in death, had 
changed the expression of the well-known face. 
Not at the first sight did Caesar condemn the 
gift and turn his eyes away; his looks were 
fixed upon it until he recognized it. And when 
he saw there was truth in the assertion of the 
crime, and thought it safe notv to be an affec- 
tionate father-in-law, he poured forth tears that 
fell not of their own accord, and uttered groans 
from a joyous heart. "^ 

To any who doubt the truthfulness of Lucan 's 
statement, that Caesar shed crocodile tears over 
Pompey 's head, hear Dio Cassius: "Caesar, at 
the sight of Pompey 's head, wept and lamented 
bitterly, calling him countryman and son-in- 
law, and enumerating all the kindnesses they 

^"Roman History," B. II, chap. XII. 
2"Pharsalia," B. IX. 



70 Cmsar's Character 

had shown each other. He said that he owed no 
reward to the murderers, but heaped reproaches 
upon them; and the head he commanded to be 
adorned and, after proper preparation, to be 
buried. For these he received praise, but for 
his pretenses he was made a laugliing-stock. 

"He had, from the outset, been thoroughly 
set upon dominion; he had always hated Pom- 
pey as his antagonist and adversary; besides all 
his other measures against him, he had brought 
on this war tvith no other purpose than to se- 
cure his rival's ruin and his oivn leadership ; 
he had but now been hurrying to Egypt with no 
other end in view than to overthrow him com- 
pletely if he should still be alive : yet he f eigTied 
to miss his presence and made a show of vexa- 
tion over his destruction."^ 

Speaking further of this incident, Lucan 
says: ''He who, with features unmoved, had 
trodden upon the limbs of senators, who with 
dry eyes had beheld the Emathean plains, to 
thee, Magnus, alone, dares not refuse a sigh. 
most unhappy turn of fate ! Didst not thou, Caes- 
ar, pursue him with accursed warfare who was 
worthy to be bewailed by thee ? Do not the ties 
of the united families influence thee, nor thy 
daughter and grandchild bid thee mourn! Dost 
thou suppose that among the people who love 
the name of Magnus this can avail thy cause? 

"Perhaps thou art moved with envy of the 
tyrant, and art grieved that others have had 

^"Roman History," B. 42, chap. 8. 



CcBsar and Cleopatra 71 

this power over the vitals of the ensnared Mag- 
nus, and dost complain that the revenge of war 
has been lost, and that thy son-in-law has been 
snatched from the power of the haughty victor. 

''Whatever impulse compels thee to weep, far 
from, true affection does it differ. With this 
feeling, forsooth, art thou hunting over land 
and sea, that nowhere thy son-in-law, cut off, 
may perish ! 0, how fortunately has this death 
been rescued from thy award ! How much crim- 
inality has sad Fortune spared the Roman 
shame ! In that perfidious man she did not suf- 
fer thee to have compassion on Magnus when 
still alive !"^ 

After the affair of Pompey, Caesar made 
no attempt to return to Rome. "The rea- 
sons, '' says Dio, "why he was so long in com- 
ing there [Rome], and did not arrive immedi- 
ately after Pompey 's death, are as follows : The 
Egyptians were discontented at the levies of 
money [made by Cgesar] and highly indignant 
because not even their temples were left un- 
touched. They are the most excessively religi- 
ous people on earth, and wage wars against one 
another on account of their beliefs, since their 
worship is not a unified system, but different 
branches of it are diametrically opposed one to 
another. As a result, then, of their vexation at 
this and their further fear that they might be 
surrendered to Cleopatra, who had great influ- 
ence with Caesar, they commenced a disturb- 
ance. 

^"Pharsalia," B. IX. 



72 C Cesar's Character 

^^For a time the princess liad urged her claim 
against her brother, through others who were 
in Caesar's presence, but as soon as she discov- 
ered his disposition (which was very susceptible, 
so that he indulged in amours with a very great 
number of women at different stages of Ms 
travels), she sent word to him that she was be- 
ing betrayed by her friends, and asked that she 
be allowed to plead her case in person. 

' ' She was a woman of surpassing beauty, es- 
pecially conspicuous at that time because in the 
prime of youth, with a most delicious voice and 
a knowledge of how to make herself agreeable 
to every one. Being brilliant to look upon and 
to listen to, with the power to subjugate even a 
cold-natared or elderly person, she thought that 
she might prove exactly to Caesar's tastes and 
reposed in her beauty all her claims to advance- 
ment. She begged, therefore, for access to his 
presence, and, on obtaining permission, adorned 
and beautified herself so as to appear before him 
in the most striking and pitiable guise. When 
she had perfected these devices she entered the 
city from her habitation outside, and by night, 
without Ptolemy's knowledge, went into the 
palace. Caesar, upon seeing her and hearing her 
speak a few words, was forthwith so completely 
captivated that he at once, before dawn, sent for 
Ptolemy and tried to reconcile them."^ 

Plutarch's account of this matter is similar, 
but he adds an incident in connection with Cleo- 

1 ''Roman History," B. 42, chap. 34. 



Ccesar and Cleopatra 73 

patra's method of entering the palace. First 
speaking of the war which sprang up when 
Caesar was in their country, Plutarch says 
( ' ' Life of Caesar " ) : ' ' As for his Egyptian war, 
some assert that it was undertaken without ne- 
cessity, and that his passion for Cleopatra en- 
gaged him in a quarrel which proved both preju- 
dicial to his reputation and dangerous to his 
person. Others accuse the king's ministers, 
particularly the eunuch, Photinus, who had the 
greatest influence at court, and who, having 
taken off Pompey and removed Cleopatra, pri- 
vately meditated an attempt against Caesar. 
Hence, it is said that Caesar began to jDass the 
night in entertainments among his friends, for 
the greater security of his person. The behav- 
ior, indeed, of this eunuch in public, all he said 
and did with respect to Caesar, was intolerably 
insolent and invidious. The corn he supplied 
his soldiers with was old and musty, and he told 
them 'they ought to be satisfied with it, since 
they lived at other people's cost.' He caused 
only wooden and earthen vessels to be served 
up at the king's table, on pretense that Caesar 
had taken all the gold and silver ones for debt. 
For the father of the reigning prince owed 
Caesar seventeen million ^\q hundred thousand 
drachmas. Caesar had formerly remitted to his 
children the rest, but thought fit to demand the 
ten millions at this time for the maintenance 
of his army. Photinus, instead of paying the 
money, advised him to go and finish the great 
affairs he had upon his hands, after which he 



74 C Cesar's Character 

should have his money with thanks. But Caesar 
told him 4ie had no need of Egyptian counsel- 
ors/ and privately sent for Cleopatra out of 
the country. 

''This princess, taking only one friend, Apollo- 
dorus, the Sicilian, with her, got into a small 
boat, and in the dusk of the evening made for 
the palace. As she saw it was difficult to enter it 
undiscovered, she rolled herself up in a carpet ; 
Apollodorus tied her up at full length, like a 
bale of goods, and carried her in at the gates 
to Caesar. This stratagem of hers, which was 
a strong proof of her wit and ingenuity, is said 
to have first opened for her the way to Caesar's 
heart; and the conquest advanced so fast, by 
the charms of her conversation, that he took it 
upon him to reconcile her brother to her, and 
insisted that she should reign with him. 

"An entertainment was given on account of 
this reconciliation, and all met to rejoice on the 
occasion, when a servant of Caesar's, who was 
his barber, a timorous and suspicious man, led 
by his natural caution to inquire into everything 
and to listen everj^iere about the palace, 
found that Achillas, the general, and Photinus, 
the eunuch, were plotting against Caesar's life. 
Caesar, being informed of their design, planted 
his guards about the hall and killed Photinus. 
But Achillas escaped to the army, and involved 
Caesar in a very difficult and dangerous war; 
for with a few troops he had to make head 
against a great city and a powerful army. 

' ' The first difficulty he met with was the want 



Ccesar and Cleopatra 75 

of water, the Egyptians having stopped up the 
aqueducts that supplied his quarters. The sec- 
ond was the loss of his ships in harbor, which 
he was forced to burn himself, to prevent their 
falling into the enemy's hands ; when the flames, 
unfortunately spreading from the dock to the 
palace, burned the great Alexandrian library. 
The third was in the sea-fight near the isle of 
Pharos, when, seeing his men hard pressed, he 
leaped from the mole into a little skiff, to go 
to their assistance. The Egyptians making up 
on all sides, he threw himself into the sea, and 
with much difficulty reached his galleys by 
swimming. Having several valuable papers, 
which he was not willing either to lose or to 
wet, it is said he held them above water with 
one hand and swam with the other. The skiff 
sank soon after he left it. At last, the king join- 
ing the insurgents, Caesar attacked and defeated 
him. Great numbers of the Egyptians were 
slain, and the king was heard of no more. This 
gave Caesar opportunity to establish Cleopatra 
queen of Egypt. Soon after she had a son by 
him, whom the Alexandrians called Caesario." 

On this point Lucan says ("Pharsalia," p. 
387, B. X) : ^'This pride did that night create 
which first united on the couch with our chief- 
tains the unchaste daughter of Ptolemy. Who 
will not, Antony, grant thee pardon for thy fran- 
tic passion, when the hardy breast of Caesar 
caught the flame, and in the midst of frenzy and 
the midst of fury, and in a palace haunted by 
the shade of Pompey, the paramour, sprinkled 



76 CcBsar's Character 

with the blood of the Thessalian carnage, ad- 
mitted Venus amid his cares, and mingled with 
his arms both illicit connection and issue not by 
a wife?^' 

P. 388, B. X: '^0, shame! forgetful of Mag- 
nus, too thee, Julia; did he give brothers by an 
obscene mother? And suffering the routed fac- 
tion to unite in the distant realms of Lybia, he 
disgracefully prolonged his stay for an amour 
of the Nile, while he was preferring to pre- 
sent her with Pharos, while not to conquer for 
himself. ' '^ 

Cleopatra pleads before Caesar to be rein- 
stated to the throne of Egypt. 

*^In vain would she have appealed to the ob- 
durate ears of Caesar, but her features aid her 
entreaties, and her unchaste face pleads for 
her. ... A night of infamy she passes, the 
arbitrator being thus corrupted. . . . When 
peace was obtained by the chieftain [the differ- 
ence between Ptolemy and Cleopatra was, for 
the time being, patched up by Caesar], and pur- 
chased with vast presents, feasting crowned the 
joyousness of events so momentous, and Cleo- 
patra, amid great tumult, displayed her lux- 
uries." 

' ^ Cleopatra, " B. X. : ' ' Having immoderately 
painted up her fatal beauty, neither content with 
a sceptre her own, nor with her brother her hus- 
band, covered with the spoils of the Eed Sea 

^He devoted his time to reinstating Cleopatra on the 
Egyptian throne, instead of marching against Cato, Scipio 
and Juba, the partisans of Pompey. 



Ccesar and Cleopatra 77 

[pearls] upon her neck and hair, Cleopatra 
wears treasures, and pants beneath her orna- 
ments. Her white breasts shine through the 
Eidonian fabric, which, wrought in close tex- 
ture by the sky of Eeres, the needle of the work- 
men of the Nile has separated and has loosened 
the ways by stretching out the web. Here do 
they place circles [tables] cut from the snow- 
white teeth in the forests of Atlas, such as not 
even when Juba was captured came before the 
eyes of Caesar.'' 

P. 391, B. X.: '^ After pleasure wearied with 
feasting and with wine had put an end to the 
revelry, Caesar began, with long discourse, to 
prolong the night." 

P. 399. Pothinus (tutor of the young king), 
in a speech to Achillas (commander-in-chief of 
army), says : '' Cleopatra has surprised the pal- 
ace. Nor has Pharos [Egypt] been betrayed 
only, but given away.^ The guilty sister is mar- 
ried to her brother. Guilty^ I say, for already 
is she married to the Latin chieftain [Caesar] ; 
and, running to and fro between her husbands, 
she sways Egypt and has won Rome. Cleopatra 
has been able to subdue an old man [Caesar com- 
pared to the boy Ptolemy] by sorceries; trust, 
wretched one, a child; whom if one night shall 
unite with her, and he shall once, submitting to 
her embraces with incestuous breast, satisfy an 
obscene passion under the name of affection, 
probably between each kiss he will be granting 

^Egypt has not only been betrayed to Caesar, but has been 
given by him as a spoil to Cleopatra. 



78 Ccesar's Character 

to her myself and thy own head. By crosses 
and by flames shall we atone for it if his visits 
shall prove beasteous (and if the brother and 
sister are reconciled, our death will be the cer- 
tain consequence). No aid remains on any side; 
on the one hand there is the king and the hus- 
band ; on the other, Caesar the paramour. ' ' 

The modern historians have usually accepted 
what is told of these matters by the original 
authorities, seldom disputing any of the main 
points. 

The following passage from Middleton is 
typical of them on the point with which we deal : 

"Caesar, instead of directly pursuing his 
victory, suffered himself to be diverted by a 
war entirely foreign to his purposes, and in 
which the charms of Cleopatra carried him fur- 
ther than he intended. This gave the Pompei- 
ans an opportunity of collecting their scattered 
forces and of forming a very considerable army 
in Africa.^' 

Oman says of this matter: "The whole 
episode is unworthy of Caesar. The conqueror 
of Gaul should not have placed himself in the 
position to be besieged for months by a Levan- 
tine rabble, and saved by an Oriental condot- 
tiere like Mithridates of Pergamus. Still less 
should he have lapsed into his silly and undig- 
nified entanglement with Cleopatra. It was his 
Alexandrian dangers and dalliance which al- 
lowed his adversaries in the west and south to 
recover their spirits and rally their armies. If 
he had sailed for Africa in August, B. C. 48, 



Ccesar and Cleopatra 79 

Thapsus would have been fought eighteen 
months sooner, and Munda would never have 
been fought at all."^ Oman goes on with the 
subject, but the point the present writer wishes 
to bring out is that Caesar, by his amours with 
Cleopatra, not only delayed the war he was then 
engaged in, but was the cause of others. 

^"Seven Roman Statesmen." 



VICTORY OVER PHARNACES 

Some of the worshipers and followers have 
done much boasting over Caesar's victory of 
Pharnaces; his "veni, vidi, vici^' victory. Prob- 
ably many of them do not know how that battle 
was fonght. Following is an historical account, 
by two of the main sources, of this battle : 

Pharnaces had defeated Caesar's lieutenant, 
Domitius. According to the Commentaries, 
Pharnaces sent ambassadors to Caesar ''to en- 
treat that Caesar would not come as an enemy, 
for he would submit to all his demands." Caesar, 
in his reply, ordered that ''he [Pharnaces] 
must quit Pontus nnmediately, send back the 
revenues of the farmers and restore to the Ro- 
mans and their allies what he unjustly obtained 
from them. If he should do this he might then 
send the presents which successful generals 
were wont to receive from their friends. 

' ' Pharnaces promised everything, ' ' but Caesar 
"was in haste to be gone." "That he might 
the sooner set out upon more urgent affairs at 
Rome. ' ' Further down the writer says : ' ' Caesar 
did what he was usually wont to do through in- 
clination, and resolved to decide the affair as 
soon as possible by a battle." 

80 



Victory Over Pharnaces 81 

Csesar lingered away nine months at Alexan- 
dria in the embraces of Cleopatra when his 
presence was sorely needed in Rome. Now, 
when he wished to make up for his lost time, 
he compelled Pharnaces to take the conse- 
quences. 

Following is Appian's account (B. II, chap. 
XIII) : ^'On the approach of Csesar he became 
alarmed, and repented of his deeds, and when 
Csesar was within two hundred stadia he sent 
ambassadors to him to treat for peace. They 
bore a golden crown, and foolishly offered the 
daughter of Pharnaces in marriage. When Cses- 
ar learned what they were bringing, he moved 
forward with his army, walking in advance and 
chatting with the ambassadors, until he arrived 
at the camp of Pharnaces, when he merely said : 
^Wliy should I not take instant vengeance on 
this parricide r Then he sprang upon his horse, 
and, at the first shout, put Pharnaces to flight 
and killed a large number of the enemy, al- 
though he had with him only about one thousand 
of his own cavalry, who had accompanied him in 
the advance." 

Of this battle he wrote to Rome the words: 
*^I came, I saw, I conquered.'' That is the way 
Julius Caesar won his ''veni, vidi, vici" victory 
— by pure perfidy.^ 

^The account of Dio Cassiiis is the same ("Roman His- 
tory," B. 42, chap. 47): "The first and second sets of 
envo3^s he treated with great kindness, in order that he 
might fall upon the foe in a state quite unguarded, through 
hopes of peace." 



82 CcBsar's Character 

Dio Cassius (B. 42, chap. 47), speaking of 
this victory, says that Caesar attacked Pharnaces 
unexpectedly, and states that "Caesar took 
great pride in the victory, in spite of the fact 
that it had not been very glorious.'' 



CESAR'S GOVERNMENT 

THE ARGUMENT 

Caesar's purpose in becoming Dictator. Hu- 
morist Froude on Caesar's Government. A few 
questions on Caesar's Government. Effect of 
Caesar's rule upon those that followed. A de- 
fense of Augustus. 



In speaking of the character of Caesar we feel 
it our duty to speak of the government set up 
by him, and the results it had upon the Roman 
people and the emperors that succeeded him. 
This can be done very briefly. 

As everyone knows, Caesar usurped the su- 
preme command in Rome and attempted to 
build a government referring to no one but him- 
self. ''With the establishment of the mon- 
archy," Boissier says, p. 298, ''an important 
change in all public employments was accom- 
plished. The magistrates became subordinate 
officials. Formerly, those elected by the popu- 
lar vote had the right to act as they pleased 
within the sphere of their functions. From the 
aedile to the consul all were supreme within 

83 



84 Ccesar^s Character 

their own limits. Tliey could not be so under 
an absolute government. Instead of governing 
on their own account, they were only the chan- 
nels, so to say, by which the will of a single man 
acted to the ends of the earth. ' '^ 

Arnold, '' History of Roman Commonwealth," 
p. 331. After Caesar had become Dictator, Ar- 
nold says of him: ''Caesar's policy was entirely 
selfish : he could not pretend to act for the bene- 
fit of the aristocracy, or of the lower classes. 
There were no grievances in the old constitu- 
tion which could be redressed only by his des- 
potism ; there had been no offense committed by 
the senate and people of Rome which deserved 
that their liberties should be surrendered into 
the hands of one profligate individual.'' 

Those who try to defend Caesar's action in 
usurping the supreme power at Rome by saying 
that he wished to prevent anarchy need be 
asked. If Caesar wished to prevent anarchy at 
Rome why did he himself flame anarchy at that 
place? Were plots, intrigues and wars against 
his country preventing anarchy ? One must un- 
derstand Caesar's desire to be king, to be head 
of the Romans, to see that it was he who plot- 
ted and warred against his country and ivas the 
main cause of the anarch^/ at Rome. 

Boissier, p. 292: ''It has been asserted that 
Caesar sought to reconcile parties. He did not 
reconcile them, he annihilated them. In the mon- 
archical system that he wished to establish, the 

'Boissier — "Cicero and His Friends." 



C Cesar's Government 85 

old parties of the government had no place. He 
had cleverly used the dissensions of the people 
and the senate to dominate both; the first re- 
sult of his victory was to put them both aside, 
and we may say that, after Pharsalus, there was 
only CaBsar on one side and the vanquished on 
the other. This explains how it was that, once 
victorious, he made use indifferently of the par- 
tisans of the senate and those of the demo- 
crats." 

Trollope, ' ' Cassar, " p. 63 : ^ ' Caesar humiliated 
the aristocracy, but only for his own advantage. 
He took the executive power out of the hands of 
the senate, but only to put it in his own. He 
established equality between all the orders, but 
it was an equality of servitude, and all was 
henceforth reduced to the same level of obedi- 
ence." 

Froude ('' Caesar," p. 548), in his anxiety to 
defend his hero, the government he founded and 
everything connected with him, among other 
wild and reckless statements, makes the follow- 
ing, concerning the empire of the Caesars : ' ' The 
nations were neither torn in pieces by violence 
nor were rushing after false ideals and spurious 
ambitions." We wish to correct Froude, as the 
nations certainly ivere torn by violence, and if 
we allow tjiat there were no false ideals, it was 
because there were no ideals; as for the "spuri- 
ous ambitions," Kome was flooded with them. 

After Cassar had crushed the power of the 
senate and the people, and raised his own upon 
their ruin, he made some attempts at reform, to 



86 CcBsar's Character 

gain the good will of the latter. He failed. He 
attempted to enforce the much needed corn laws 
of the Gracchi, but did not succeed. He enacted 
a law, says Middleton (''Cicero," p. 496), which 
"regulated the expenses of the Romans, not 
only with regard to their tables, but also their 
dress, equipages, furniture and buildings; but 
Caesar seems to have found it a much easier 
task to corrupt than to reform; for, though he 
was very desirous of enforcing this salutary 
law, yet it appears to have been extremely ill 
observed. ' ' 

Oman ("Seven Roman Statesmen,'' p. 355) 
says: "As to the legislation concerning debt 
and 'luxury,' which the Dictator introduced, 
we cannot take it very seriously; it was a 
case of 'Satan rebuking Sin.' His own 
astonishing loads of indebtedness which he had 
contracted, prevented him from attacking the 
problem with any moral weight." Oman strikes 
the reason why Caesar, although attempting re- 
forms, could not succeed. A man must be moral 
himself, and the spirit of reform must flow in 
his veins, before he can have the will (which 
comes before the power) to reform. We can 
thus understand why Caesar's attempted re- 
forms failed and why Middleton observed: 
"Caesar found it easier to corrupt than to re- 
form. ' ' 

Now a word concerning the enjoyment of his 
sovereign power. Boissier ("Cicero and His 
Friends," p. 385) probably has told it best: 
"That sovereign power that he [Caesar] had 



C Cesar's Government 87 

sought after for more than twenty years with 
an indefatigable persistence, through so many 
perils and by means of dark intrigues, the re- 
membrance of which must have made him 
blush, did not answer to his expectations and 
appeared unsatisfying to him, though he had so 
eagerly desired it., 
' ' He might well have said, with Corneille : 

' ' ' I desired the empire, and I have attained it ; 
But I knew not what it was that I desired. 
In its possession I have found, instead of de- 
lights. 
Appalling cares, continual alarms, 
A thousand secret enemies, death at every 

turn, 
No pleasure without alloy, and never re- 
pose/' 

But to come to the government he founded, 
and to leave the man and the position. Aside 
from the fact that the Roman people killed J. 
Caesar because he had taken away their liber- 
ties and proceeded to rule them in a tyrannical 
manner, let us ask a question or two concern- 
ing the government established by him. Whify 
if the government Caesar established was 
most satisfactory to the people, did his suc- 
cessor, Augustus, form a government that, at 
least outivardly, was a Republic? Why, after 
the death of that emperor, did the Republican 
spirit revive? Why, later on, were Pompey, 
Cato, Brutus and Cicero exalted by the writers ! 
Why did the government and army become cor- 
rupt and the emperors powerless if the form of 



88 C Cesar's Character 

government established by Caesar was the best! 
We will let Oman take up the subject at this 
point. 

' ' Seven Eoman Statesmen, ' ' p. 336. As to the 
form of government founded by Caesar, Oman 
says : ' ' Caesar could give no moral impulse to 
the world. The empire was a time of lost ideals, 
because its founder was himself a man who had 
lived down, or had never possessed, any govern- 
ing enthusiasm, save that of personal ambition. 
Nations, like men, need an aim and an ideal to 
keep them sound." 

P. 338. Going on with the subject, he says: 
^^ Caesar, in short, put an end to urban sedition 
and provincial misgovernment. 

' ' Butlie and his great nephew gave the world, 
instead of its old anarchy, a period of mere 
soulless material prosperity. 

' ' If the barbarians had never resumed the at- 
tack from without; if Christianity had never 
arisen, to give new ideals from within, the Eo- 
man Empire would have gradually sunk into a 
self-satisfied, stationary civilization of the Chi- 
nese type." 

What say you, worshipers of Caesar, to that! 
Then who would have heard of ' ' the divine Caes- 
ar, the founder of the Holy Roman Empire ' ' ? 

With the exception of the laws and customs, 
the good the world has derived from the Eoman 
Empire is that good injected into it, firstly, hy 
the German conquest and, secondly, hy the 
Christian religion. 

Let Oman proceed: "Whether it [the govern- 



C Cesar's Government 89 

ment] be considered as a despotism or a bureau- 
cracy, it was a magnificent failure. Already, by 
the end of the second century, before the Ger- 
man attack grew dangerous, it had lapsed into 
moral impotence. On the civil side it was over- 
governed and overtaxed; on the military side 
it had developed a denationalized army, which 
had begun to sell the diadem to the highest bid- 
er. It is hardly necessary to recall the fact that 
between the death of Commodus and the acces- 
sion of Diocletian — a period of no more than 
ninety years — some thirty emperors (not to 
speak of unrecognized usurpers and Hyrants') 
came to violent ends at the hands of their own 
soldiery. The first Caesar 'had taken the sword' 
— a clear majority of his successors 'perished 
by the sword. ' ' ' 

Such was the result upon the ages following 
of the form of government founded by Julius 
Caesar. It is the author's opinion that, with the 
exception of Augustus, Rome and the world 
would have been better off had the Caesar line 
never existed. 

In conclusion the author wishes to say a word 
in defense of Augustus. He has no intention 
of making a long or elaborate defense, but it is 
his opinion that Augustus was not a bad man 
at heart, that he was bad outwardly to keep 
pace with his time. He was bad through policy, 
not natural inclination. Instances of this could 
be given, but the author is content to make his 
statement suffice. The impetus Aug-ustus gave 
to literature will be forever remembered. 



MORAL CHARACTER OF C^SAR 

THE AEGUMENT 

Pakt I. — Caesar's character has been hidden 
behind a screen for many years because mod- 
ern writers refrain from speaking of his gross 
immorality. Authorities, ancient and modern, 
on the subject. Caesar's ''contempt of riches" 
and his personal immorality. Froude on the 
subject. Catullus on the Moral Character of 
Caesar. Suetonius on the same subject. Caesar's 
two dominant passions. 

Pakt II. — Caesar's moral character as shown 
by his career. Appian and Dio Cassius on the 
cause of the war in Spain. Caesar's purpose 
in getting the consulship, and his conduct in 
that office. The forming of the Triumvirate. 
Its purpose, as given by the ancient historians, 
and its effect. Caesar gets possession of Gaul 
as a result of his holding the consulship. The 
Gallic wars. The causes as given by Caesar and 
Plutarch. Boissieur on Caesar's career. A con- 
clusion to this chapter by Middleton and Arnold. 



PART I 

On these matters we will quote our authori- 
ties, firstly, because we have no inclination to 
paint the pictures ourselves, and secondly, be- 

90 



Moral Character of Ccesar 91 

cause giving our authorities is of greater 
weight. 

Arnold: ^'Whilst Caesar was thus giving to- 
kens of his fear of the danger which the aristoc- 
racy had to apprehend from his political career, 
he almost lulled their fears by the unbounded 
infamy of his personal character. We will not 
and cannot repeat the picture which ancient 
writers, little scrupulous on such i3oints, have 
drawn of his debaucheries; it will be sufficient 
to say that he was stained with numerous adul- 
teries committed with women of the noblest 
families; that his profligacies on other points 
drew upon him general disgrace, even amid the 
lax morality of his own contemporaries, and are 
such that their very flagitiousness have, in part, 
saved them from the abhorrence of posterity, be- 
cause modern writers cannot pollute their pages 
with the mention of them. ' '^ But this is the point 
that the present writer wishes to emphasize. 
This is one of the reasons why men have not 
fully come to understand the real nature of J. 
Caesar. Writers have held aloof from speaking 
of the man as he actually was, on account of his 
extreme immorality in various directions. 

Appian. Of his early profligacy in money 
matters, Appian says the following: ^^ While 
yet a^dile and praetor, he [Caesar] had incurred 
great debts and had made himself wonderfully 
agreeable to the multitude, who always sing the 
praises of those who are lavish in expendi- 
tures. . . . 

^"History of the Roman Commonwealth," p. 149. 



92 C Cesar's Character 

''Caesar, who had been chosen praetor for 
Spain, was detained in the city by his creditors, 
as he owed much more than he could pay, by 
reason of his political expenses. He was re- 
ported as saying that he needed 25,000,000 
sesterces ($1,250,000), in order to have nothing 
at all. However, he arranged with those who 
were detaining him as best he could and pro- 
ceeded to Spain. '^^ 

Allen and Greenough's ''Caesar" : "His aedile- 
ship surpassed all before it in magnificence; but 
he left it, as he remarked with grim humor, 
worth more than a million dollars less than 
nothing. ' ' 

Oman ("Seven Eoman Statesmen," p. 303) : 
' ' The more useless and extravagant was his out- 
lay, the better the urban multitude was pleased. 
After this, one begins to understand the freaks 
of Caligula and other descendants of the Caesar 
family. ' ' 

In speaking of Caesar's early life he says: 
"Of all the rakes of Rome he was by far the 
most notorious. ' ' In speaking of his numerous 
adulteries and the husbands thereby injured, he 
says: "The marvel is that he did not end in 
some dark corner with a dagger between his 
ribs long before he reached the age of thirty." 
He goes on with his subject's infamous life, and 
says: "It is grotesque to have to remember 
that, in spite of his own career, he was the au- 
thor of the famous dictum that 'Caesar's wife 
must be above suspicion,'" and winds up by say- 

i"Roman History," B. II, chap. II. 



Moral Character of Ccesar 93 

ing : ' ' These are certainly odd beginnings for a 
savior of society/' 

P. 301. ''If there was any other point of Caes- 
ar's character even more strongly marked than 
his licentiousness, it was his power of getting 
through money — especially other people's 
money." Oman has written an accurate book, 
but he does not make a more truthful statement 
than the one just quoted. Is it not humorous, 
then, to hear Diodorus Siculus speak of ''Caes- 
ar's contempt of riches"? 

"Caesar," p. 168. Froude speaks of Caesar's 
adulteries, especially that of Mucia, the wife of 
Pompey. Following is his attempted denial 
(Froude has a method of attempting to deny a 
charge against Caesar, and then admitting it) : 
' ' Two points may be remarked about these leg- 
ends : first, that on no single occasion does Caes- 
ar appear to have been involved in any trouble 
or quarrel on account of his love affairs; and 
secondly [with exceptions], there is no record of 
any illegitimate children as result of these 
amours." Then his admittance of its possibil- 
ity: " He was a man of the world, living in an 
age as corrupt as has ever been known." 

P. 103. "Long afterward, when Roman cul- 
tivated society had come to hate Caesar, and any 
scandal was welcome to them which would make 
him odious, it was reported that on this occasion 
he entered into certain relations with Nico- 
medes [now comes his attempt to pass it over] 
of a kind indisputably common at the time in 
the higher patrician circles." 



94 Caesar's Character 

Further down he tries to console himself of 
this particular charge by saving that it is a 
common feature of human nature to believe evil 
of men who have risen a few degrees above their 
contemporaries, and laments that it is ''re- 
peated through many generations," and winds 
up with his usual admittance that ''this par- 
ticular accusation against Caesar gains, perhaps, 
a certain credibility from the admission that it 
was the only occasion on which anything of the 
kind could be alleged against him. ' ^ 

Froude, further in his work, properly contra- 
dicts himself when he quotes Suetonius for 
what the elder Curio said of these matters: 
" 'Omnium mulierum vir et omnium virorum 
mulier^; he had mistresses in every country 
which he visited, and he had liaisons with half 
the ladies in Rome. That Csesar's morality was 
altogether superior to that of the average of 
his contemporaries is, in a high degree, im- 
probable. He was a man of the world, peculi- 
arly attracted to women, and likely to have 
been attracted by them." 

P. 535. "Two intrigues, it may be said, are 
beyond dispute. His connection with the mother 
of Brutus was notorious. Cleopatra, in spite of 
Oppius,^ was living with him in his house at 
the time of his murder." 

The following is from Oman ("Seven Eoman 
Statesmen," pp. 291 and 292) : 

' ' To represent Caesar, even in his later years, 
as a kind of saint and benefactor who had lived 

^Oppius tried to deny Caesar's adulteries with Cleopatra. 



Moral Character of Ccesar 95 

down Ms early foibles is wholly untrue to the 
facts of liis life. The man is consistent all 
through his career; the dictator of B. C. 45 
was but the debauched young demagogue of 
B. C. 70 grown older, riper and more wary. 
Those who represent him as a staid and divine 
figure, replete with schemes for the benefit of 
humanity, need to be reminded that at the age 
of fifty-four, in the year of the victory of Phar- 
salus, he was ready to lapse into undignified 
amours with a clever and worthless little Egyp- 
tian princess. It is worse still that two years 
later, aged fifty-six, he should condescend to 
write and publish his 'anti-Cato.' To pen a sa- 
tire — and a poor satire at that — on an honest 
and worthy enemy, whose ashes were hardly 
yet cold, was worthy of a second-rate society 
journalist. The monarch of the world was, at 
bottom, the same man as the clever young 
scamp whose epigrams and adulteries had scan- 
dalized Rome thirty years back." Caesar was 
severely condemned in his own age^ — corrupt as 
it was — for his extreme immorality. Follow- 
ing is a specimen or two from the poet, Catul- 
lus: 

P. 22.^^ That he [Catullus] was not indiffer- 
ent to public wrongs is proved by the vehem- 
ence with which he assailed Caesar in the plen- 
itude of his power." (Introduction.) 

P. 28 (^To Caesar on Mamurra"). ^^Who can 
behold this, who can endure it, save a lewd rep- 
robate, and an extortioner, and a reckless squan- 
derer, that Mamurra should have all the fullness 



96 CcBsar's Character 

of trans-Alpine Gaul and farthest Britain? Vi- 
cious Caesar [used in its grossest sense], wilt 
thou behold and tolerate such things I Thou art a 
lewd reprobate, and an extortioner, and a reck- 
less squanderer. And shall he now, proud and 
profuse, perambulate all men's beds, like the 
wjiite dove of Venus or Adonis? Vicious Caes- 
ar, wilt thou behold and tolerate such things? 
Thou art a lewd reprobate, and an extortioner, 
and a reckless squanderer. Is it for this, sole 
and unrivaled emperor, that thou hast been to 
the extremest island of the west, that this worn- 
out lecher of thine should not live in bound- 
less extravagance? ^What matters it?' says 
thy ill-placed liberality. Has he, then, made 
away with little? Has he devoured little? First 
his patrimony was spent; next, the spoil of 
Pontus ; then, thirdly, that of Iberia, which the 
auriferous Tagiir knows. He is the terror of 
Gaul, the terror of Britain. Why dost thou 
cherish this wretch? Or what can he do but 
devour fat inheritances? Was it for thee, sole 
and unrivaled emperor, that both of you — father- 
in-law and son-in-law — ruined the world?" 



*'No debauchees were better pair'd 
Than vile Mamurra and his lord; 
Nor can we think it strange ; 

The Roman's and the Formean's name, 
With equal infamy and shame 
Deep staint, no time can change. 



Moral Character of CcBsar 97 

^Vicious alike, one couch they press; 
A little learning both possess; 
Both rank adulterers are: 
No debauchees were better pair 'd 
Than vile Mamurra and his lord. 
Twin rivals of the fair.'' 

P. 283: 



' ' So little I for Caesar care, 

Whatever his complexion be, 
That whether dark, or whether fair, 
I vow 'tis all the same to me ! ' ' 

[Remaek.] Catullus never wrote a good 
word for Caesar. He speaks well of Cicero and 
Cato, however, in the little he says. 

Probably no one has dealt with this side of 
Caesar's character more fully than the biogra- 
pher Suetonius, and he is taken as authority. 

^'J. Caesar," II: ''His first campaign was 
served in Asia, on the staff of the praetor, M. 
Thermus; and, being dispatched into Bithynia, 
to bring thence a fleet, he loitered so long at 
the court of Nicomedes as to give occasion to 
reports of a criminal intercourse between him 
and that prince; which received additional 
credit from his hasty return to Bithynia, un- 
der the pretext of recovering a debt due to a 
freedman, his client," 

XLIX. Further in this Life, Suetonius says 
that this ''stain upon his chastity stuck to him 
all the days of his lifej and exposed him to 



98 C Cesar's Character 

much bitter raillery. I will not dwell upon 
those well-known verses of Calvus Licinius : 

'' 'Whatever Bithynia and her lord possess 'd, 
Her lord whom Caesar in his lust caress 'd.' 

'M pass over the speeches of Dolabella, and 
Curio, the father, in which the former calls him 
'the queen's rival, and the inner side of the 
royal couch/ and the latter 'the brothel of Ni- 
comedes, and the Bithynian stew.' I would 
likewise say nothing of the edicts of Bibulus, 
in which he proclaimed his colleague under the 
name of 'the queen of Bithynia,' adding that 
'he had formerly been in love with a king, 
but now coveted a kingdom. ' At which time, as 
Marcus Brutus relates, one Octavius, a man of 
crazy brain, and, therefore, the more free in his 
raillery, after he had, in a crowded assembly, 
saluted Pompey by the title of king, addressed 
Caesar by that of queen. Caius Memmius like- 
wise upbraided him with serving the king at 
table, among the rest of his catamites, in the 
presence of a large company in which were 
some merchants from Rome, the names of 
whom he mentions. But Cicero was not con- 
tent with writing in some of his letters, that 
he was conducted by the royal attendants into 
the king's bedchamber, lay upon a bed of gold 
with a covering of purple, and that the youth- 
ful bloom of this scion of Venus had been 
tainted in Bithynia — ^but upon Caesar's plead- 
ing the cause of Nysa, the daughter of Nico- 



Moral Character of Ccesar 99 

medes, before the senate, and recounting the 
king's kindnesses to him, replied: ^Pray, tell 
us no more of that; for it is well known what 
he gave you, and you gave him/ To conclude, 
his soldiers in the Gallic triumph, amongst 
other verses, such as they jocularly sung on 
those occasions, following the generars chariot, 
recited these, which since that time have been 
extremely common: 

' ' ' The Gauls to Cassar yield, Caesar to Nicome- 

des, 
Lo ! Caesar triumphs for his glorious deed. 
But Caesar's conqueror gains no victor's 

meed.' " 

L. ''It is admitted by all that he was much ad- 
dicted to women (1), as well as very expensive 
in his intrigues with them, and that he de- 
bauched many ladies of the highest quality; 
among whom were Posthumia, the wife of Ser- 
vius Sulpicius ; Lollia, the wife of Aulus Gabin- 
ius ; Tertulla, the wife of Marcus Crassus ; and 
Mucia, the wife of Cneius Pompey. For it is 
certain that the Curios, both father and son, and 
many others, made it a reproach to Pompey, 
'that to gratify his ambition he married the 
daughter of a man upon whose account he had 
divorced his wife after having had three chil- 
dren by her, and whom he used, with a deep 

(1) Cesar's greatest worshipers have been compelled to 
admit this. Following is an example of how they do so: 
Long, in his "Decline of the Roman Republic," V, says 
there is ''evidence, and so much of it, as to Caesar's licen- 
tious habits with women, that we cannot refuse to receive 
it." 

L OF C. 



100 CcBsar's Character 

sigh, to call ^gisthus." But tlie mistress lie 
most loved was Servilia, tlie mother of Marcus 
Brutus, for whom he purchased, in his first con- 
sulship, after the commencement of their in- 
trigue, a pearl which cost him six million of 
sesterces; and in the civil war, besides other 
presents, assigned to her, for a trifling consid- 
eration, some valuable farms when they were 
exposed to public auction. Many persons ex- 
pressing their surprise at the lowness of the 
price, Cicero wittily remarked : ' To let you know 
the real value of the purchase, between our- 
selves, Tertia was deducted.' " For Servilia was 
supposed to have prostituted her daughter, Ter- 
tia, to Csesar (1). 

LT. "That he had intrigues, likewise, with 
married women in the provinces, appears from 
this distich, which was as much repeated in the 
(lallic triumph as the former: 
** 'Watch well your wives, ye cits; we bring a 
blade, 

A bald-pate master of the wenching trade. 

Thy gold was spent on many a Gallic w e; 

Exhausted now, thou com'st to borrow 
more.' " 

^^gisthus, who debauched the wife of Agamemnon while 
engaged in the Trojan War. 

(1) Boissier — "Cicero and His Friends," p. 305: "Servil- 
ia, the mother of Brutus, had been the object of one of the 
most violent passions of Csesar. She always held a great 
sway over him and took advantage of it to enrich herself 
after Pharsalia by getting the property of the conquered, 
etc. When she became old, and felt the powerful Dictator 
slipping from her, in order to continue to rule him she fa- 
vored his amours with one of her daughters — the wife of 
Cassius," 



Moral Character of Ccesar 101 

LI/ 'In the number of his mistresses were also 
some queens; such as Eunoe, a Moor, the wife 
of Bogudes, to whom and her husband he made, 
as Naso reports, many large presents. But his 
greatest favorite was Cleopatra, with whom he 
often reveled all night until dawn of day, and 
would have gone with her through Egypt in dal- 
liance, as far as Ethiopia, in her luxurious 
yacht, had not the army refused to follow him. 

''He aftei^ward invited her to Rome, whence 
he sent her back loaded with honors and pres- 
ents, and gave her permission to call by his 
name a son who, according to the testimony of 
some Greek historians, resembled Ccesar both in 
person and gait. Mark Antony declared in the 
senate that Caesar had acknowledged the child 
as his own, and that Caius Matias, Cains Oppius 
and the rest of Caesar's friends knew it to be 
true. . . . 

"Helvius Cinna, tribune of the people, admit- 
ted to several persons the fact that he had a bill 
ready drawn, which Caesar had ordered him to 
get enacted in his absence, allowing him, with 
the hope of having issue, to take any wife he 
chose, and as many of them as he pleased; and 
to leave no room for doubt of his infamous char- 
acter for unnatural lewdness and adultery. Cu- 
rio, the father, says, in one of his speeches : 'He 
was every woman's man, and every man's 
woman.' " (1) These are the accounts Sueto- 
nius gives us of Caesar's personal character. 

(1) Caesar, when accused of being a woman, made no at- 
tempt to deny it, but retorted (XXII) '• * Semiramis former- 



102 C Cesar's Character 

Montaigne, p. 363, in speaking of men domi- 
nated by this passion, says of Csesar : ' ' The sole 
example of Julius Csesar may suffice to demon- 
strate to us the disparity of those appetites, for 
never was man more addicted to amorous de- 
lights than he.'' Further on: ''Besides his 
wives, whom he had four times changed, with- 
out reckoning the amours of his childhood with 
Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, he had the maid- 
enhead of the renowned Cleopatra, queen of 
Egypt; witness the little Csesario that he had 
by her. He also made love to Eunoe, queen of 
Mauritania, and at Rome to Posthumia, the wife 
of Servius Sulpicius ; to Lollia, the wife of Ga- 
binius; to Tertulla, the wife of Crassus, and 
even to Mucia, wife to the great Pompey. 

''So that," he concludes, "I have reason, me- 
thinks, to take him for a man extremely given 
to this debauch, and of a very amorous consti- 
tution; but the other passion of ambition, with 
which he was exceedingly infected, arising in 
him to contend with it, it was soon compelled 
to give way. ' ' 

Montaigne has summed up in a few words 
what most historians state to have been the two 
dominating passions of this man. Great as was 
Ca3sar's sexual passion, and the world does 
not record a worse case, yet greater was his 
lust for power, which meant the loss of his coun- 
try's liberties and the infinitely bad influence 
his life has upon succeeding posterity. 

ly reigned in Assyria, and the Amazons possessed great 
part of Asia.'" 



MORAL CHARACTER OF C^SAR 
PART II 

Appian (''Roman History," Vol. II, B. II, 
chap. II): "Caesar, who had been chosen 
praetor for Spain, was detained in the city by 
his creditors, as he owed much more than he 
could pay, by reason of his political expenses. 
He was reported as saving that he needed 25,- 
000,000 sesterces ($1,250,000), in order to have 
nothing at all. However, he arranged with those 
who were detaining him as best he could and 
proceeded to Spain. Here he neglected the 
transaction of public business, the administra- 
tion of justice, and all matters of that kind, be- 
cause he considered them of no use to his pur- 
pose, but he raised an army and attacked the 
independent Spanish tribes one by one until he 
made the country tributary to the Romans."^ 

Dio's account of the beginning of this war 
is similar: "He was eager for glory, emu- 
lating Pompey and his other predecessors who 
at one time had held great power, and he har- 
bored no small designs ; it was his hope, in case, 
at that time, he accomplished anything, to be 

^Nobody asked him to do this; it served his personal 
ambition to do it. 

103 



104 C Cesar's Character 

immediately chosen consul and show the people 
deeds of magnitude. That hope was based more 
especially upon the fact that in Gades, when he 
was praetor, he had dreamed of intercourse with 
his mother, and had learned from the seers 
that he should come to great power. Hence, on 
beholding there a likeness of Alexander, dedi- 
cated in the temple of Hercules, he had given a 
groan, lamenting that he had performed no 
great work as yet. 

"Accordingly, though he might, as I have 
said, have been at peace, he took his way to 
Mount Herminium and ordered the dwellers on 
it to move into the plain, pretendedly that they 
might not rush down from their strongholds and 
plunder, but really because he well knew that 
they would never do what he asked, and that, as 
a result, he should get a cause for war. This 
also happened."^ And there, reader, you have 
the way Cassar began the war in Spain. 

After he had defeated these tribes in Spain, 
and had taken away their wealth, * ' he thought, ' ' 
as l)io says, "he had gained a sufficient means 
of access to the consulship." Appian says that 
after the war ' ' he sent much money to the pub- 
lic treasury at Rome. For these reasons the 
senate awarded him a triumph. '^ Further 
down : "As Caesar was very anxious to secure 
the office [of consul], and his procession [for his 
intended triumph] was not yet ready, he sent 
to the senate and asked permission to stand for 
the consulship while absent. '^ 

^Dio's "Roman History," B. 37, chap. 52. 



Moral Character of Ccesar 105 

All readers of Roman history know how this 
was resisted by Marcus Cato, who used up the 
whole day in speaking; how Caesar gave up his 
triumph, entered the city, formed the Trium- 
virate and had himself forced into the consul- 
ship. 

^^The senate had its suspicions of them 
[Triumvirate], and elected Lucius Bibulus 
as Caesar's colleague, to hold him in check." 
(B. II, chap. II, s. 10.) "Strife sprang up be- 
tween them immediately, and they proceeded to 
arm themselves secretly against each other." 

After Caesar had formed the Triumvirate, and 
had himself put into the consulship, he pro- 
ceeded to manage that office as if he owned it. 
Appian says of it (B. II, chap. II) : 

'^Caesar, ivho ivas a master of dissimulation, 
made speeches in the senate to the interest of 
harmony with Bibulus, as though he were tak- 
ing care lest harm should come to the Republic 
from their disagreement. As he was believed 
to he sincere, Bibulus was thrown off his guard. 
While Bibulus was unprepared, and suspecting 
nothing, Caesar secretly got a large band of sol- 
diers in readiness and brought before the sen- 
ate measures for the relief of the poor by the 
distribution of the public land to them. The 
best part of this land, around Capua, which was 
leased for the public benefit, he proposed to be- 
stow upon those who were the fathers of at 
least three children, by which means he bought 
for himself the favor of a multitude of men. ' ' 

Middleton, p. 367 : '^M.Calpurnius Bibulus was 



106 CcBsar's Character 

joint consul with J. Caesar, A. U. 694. The sen- 
ate secured the election of the former in order 
to his being a check to the ambitious designs of 
his colleague; and it was thought of so much 
importance to the Eepublic that he should be 
chosen that even Cato did not scruple upon this 
occasion to employ methods of bribery for that 
purpose. But Bibulus, after many vain efforts 
of patriotism, and being grossly insulted in the 
forum by Cagsar's mob, at length withdrew 
from the functions of his office and voluntarily 
confined himself (as Suetonius relates) to his 
own house; though, by the expression which 
Tully here uses, it rather seems as if Caesar had 
employed some force to keep him there. After 
which, as the same historian informs us, Caesar 
governed the Eepublic without control."^ 

Oman : ' ' His consulship was a sort of carni- 
val of illegality and mob law, which made a fit- 
ting close to the whole of his demagogic career. 
He violated every rule of the constitution with 
a cheerful nonchalance that surprised even his 
own lieutenants. He openly displayed armed 
men in the Comitia; he not only drove away 
the partisans of the senatorial party by force 
— that was now the ordinary rule in domestic 
politics — but arrested and hurried off in cus- 
tody everyone who dared to speak against his 

^Suetonius relates (chap. XX), of this circumstance, "that 
some wags, when they signed any instrument, as witnesses, 
did not add 'in the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus,' but, 
'of Julius and Caesar'; putting the same person down twice, 
under his name and surname." 



Moral Character of Ccesar 107 

proposals — even the respectable Cato himself. 
His crowning act of illegality took place at the 
passing of his Agrarian Laws: when Bibulus 
put up three tribunes to veto it, Caesar quietly 
disregarded them, and proceeded with his busi- 
ness. The Optimate consul sprang to his feet 
and began declaiming to the people that the 
whole proceedings were null and void, and that 
his colleague was violating the most funda- 
mental laws of the constitution. Caesar had him 
seized by his lictors, bundled him off the rostra, 
and told the attendants to see that no harm 
happened te him and to turn him loose in some 
quiet street. Cato and the three dissentient tri- 
bunes were treated in the same unceremonious 
fashion. Then Caesar bade the proceedings go 
on, and passed his law! // ever, majestus, the 
open and deliberate commission of high trea- 
son took place at Rome, this was the occasion. 
A magistrate had disregarded the veto of his 
own colleague and of three tribunes, and had 
finally laid violent hands on their sacrosanct 
persons and expelled them from the Assembly. 
The Optimates wondered that the sky did not 
fall then and there. But nothing happened, and 
Caesar declared his bill to be law, and carried 
out its provisions."^ 

Plutarch: ^^ About this time Caesar returned 
from his government [of Spain] to solicit the 
consulship. Finding Crassus and Pompey again 
at variance, he would not apply to either in 

^"Seven Roman Statesmen." 



108 C Cesar's Character 

particular, lest he should make the other his 
enemy; nor could he hope to succeed without 
the assistance of one of them. In this dilemma 
he determined, if possible, to effect a good un- 
derstanding once more between them. For 
which purpose he represented 'that by leveling 
their artillery against each other they raised 
the Ciceros, the Catulli and the Catos; who 
would be nothing, if they were once real friends, 
and took care to act in concert. If that were the 
case,' said he, 'with your united interests and 
counsels you might carry all before you. ' 

' ' These representations had their effect ; and, 
by joining himself to the league, he formed that 
invincible triple compact which ruined the sen- 
ate and the people of Rome. Not that either 
Crassus or Pompey gained any advantage from 
their union; but Caesar, by the help of both, 
climbed to the highest pinnacle of power. ' '^ 

In his "Life of Pompey," Plutarch says of 
the formation of this secret agreement: "At 
this time Caesar, returning from his province, 
undertook an affair, which rendered him very 
popular at present, and in its consequences 
gained him power, but proved a great prejudice 
to Pompey and to the whole commonwealth. He 
was then soliciting his first consulship, and 
Crassus and Pompey being at variance, he per- 
ceived that, if he should join the one, the other 
would be his enemy of course; he therefore set 
himself to reconcile them. A thing which seemed 

'"Life of Crassus." 



Moral Character of Ccesar 109 

honorable in itself and calculated for the public 
good; but the intention was insidious, though 
deep-laid and covered with the most refined pol- 
icy. For while the power of the senate was di- 
vided it kept it in an equilibrium, as the bur- 
den of a ship properly distributed keeps it from 
inclining to one side more than another; but 
when the power came to be all collected in one 
part, leaving nothing to counterbalance it, it 
overset and destroyed the commonwealth." 

Caesar's power of deceiving, in this matter, is 
best brought out by Plutarch in his Life of that 
character: ^^As soon as he had entered the city 
he went to work upon an expedient that de- 
ceived all the world except Cato. It was the 
reconciling of Pompey and Crassus, two of the 
most powerful men in Rome. By making them 
friends Caesar secured the interests of both to 
himself and, while he seemed to be doing an 
office of humanity, he ivas undermining the con- 
stitution. For it was not what most people im- 
agine, the disagreement between Caesar and 
Pompey, that produced the Civil War, but rather 
their union : they first combined to ruin the au- 
thority of the senate, and, when that was ef- 
fected, they parted, to pursue each his own de- 
signs. Cato, who often prophesied what would 
be the consequence, was then looked upon as a 
troublesome and overbusy man; afterward he 
was esteemed a wise, though not a fortunate, 
counsellor. ' ' 

Of the formation of this compact Florus 
says; ^^ Crassus happened, at that time, to b^ 



110 C Cesar's Character 

distinguished for family, wealth and honor, but 
was desirous to have his power still greater. 
Caius Cassar had become eminent by his elo- 
quence and spirit and by his promotion to the 
consulate. Yet Pompey rose above them both. 
Caesar, therefore, being eager to acquire dis- 
tinction; Crassus, to increase what he had got, 
and Pompey to add to his, and all being equally 
covetous of power, they readily formed a com- 
pact to seize the government. Striving, accord- 
ingly, with their common forces, each for his 
own advancement, Caesar took the province of 
Gaul, Crassus that of Asia, Pompey that of 
Spain. They had three vast armies, and thus 
the empire of the world was now held by these 
three leading personages.''^ 

Dio Cassius, after saying that Caesar had rec- 
onciled Pompey and Crassus, continues: ''He 
did not believe that without them he could 
either attain permanent power or fail to offend 
one of them some time, and had equally little 
fear of their harmonizing their plans, and so 
becoming stronger than he. For he understood 
perfectly that he should master other people 
immediately through their friendship, and a lit- 
tle later master them through the agency of 
each other. And so it was.'' 

After explaining that this compact was of the 
most secret sort, Dio gives the following signifi- 
cant passage: "Yet Pleaven was not ignorant 
of their doings, and it straightway revealed 

^Sallust — "Florus and V. PaterciUus," B. IV, chap. II. 



Moral Character of Ccesar 111 

plainly to those who could understand any such 
signs all that would later result from their 
domination. For, of a sudden, such a storm 
came down upon the whole city and all the land 
that quantities of trees were torn up by the 
roots, many houses were shattered, the boats 
moored in the Tiber, both near the city and at 
its mouth, were sunk, and the wooden bridge 
destroyed, and a small theatre built of timbers 
for some assembly was overturned, and in the 
midst of all this great numbers of human be- 
ings perished. These portents appeared in ad- 
vance — an image, as it were, of what should be- 
fall the people both on land and on water. "^ 

The forming of this compact was the thing 
that gave Caesar the consulship and the prov- 
ince of Gaul, and was the event from which ' ' all 
the Roman ivriters date the origin of the civil 
tvar.9 ivhich aftertvard ensued^ and the subver- 
sion of the RepuhUc in which they ended.''" 

Florus tells us that when that secret compact 
was formed between Caesar, Pompey and Cras- 
sus these men divided the world between them, 
Caesar taking Gaul. Of the latter circumstance 
Suetonius tells, which we will give in the words 
of Middleton, p. 86: ^^But Caesar, who valued 
no law or custom which did not serve his pur- 
pose, without any regard to the senate applied 
himself to his better friends, the people; and by 
his agent, Vatinius, procured from them, by a 
new and extraordinary law, the grant of Cisal- 

^"Roman History," B. 37, chap. 58. 
2Middleton — "Life of Cicero," p. 78. 



112 CcBsar^s Character 

pine Gaul, with the addition of Illyricum, for 
the term of five years. This was a cruel blow to 
the power of the senate and a direct infringe- 
ment on the old constitution, as it transferred 
a right to the people which they had never ex- 
ercised or pretended to before. It convinced the 
senate, however, that all opposition was vain; 
so that when Caesar soon after declared a desire 
to have Transalpine Gaul added to his other 
provinces they decreed it to him readily them- 
selves, to prevent his recurring a second time 
to the people and establishing a precedent so 
fatal to their authority." 

Plutarch, after speaking of Pompey's suc- 
cess, says of Caesar: "In the meantime the 
wars in Gaul lifted Caesar to the first sphere 
of greatness. The scene of action was at a great 
distance from Rome, and he seemed to be wholly 
engaged with the Belgae, the Suevi and the Brit- 
ons; but his genius all the while was privately 
at work among the people of Rome, and he was 
undermining Pompey in his most essential in- 
terests. His ivar ivith the barbarians was not 
his principal object. He exercised his army, in- 
deed, in those expeditions, as he would have 
done his own body in hunting and other diver- 
sions of the field, by which he prepared them 
for higher conflicts, and rendered them not only 
formidable but invincible."^ The ancient au- 
thorities, it must be remembered, agree on these 
things, and couch them in language that makes 

*"Ufe of Pompey," 



Moral Character of Ccesar 113 

that of the modern historians, although the lat- 
ter say the same things, look tame. The follow- 
ing is typical of the latter : 

Oman ( ' ' Seven Roman Statesmen " ) : ' ^ It 
has only to be remembered that his final object 
was not so much the conquest of Gaul as the 
building up for himself of an unrivaled military 
reputation and a devoted army." 

Boissier has a significant passage on this mat- 
ter that lacks weight no less than it does author- 
ity: "Cresar's plans were settled even before he 
entered public life ; in his youth he had formed 
the design to become master. That, at least, 
was the opinion of all the historians of an- 
tiqidti//'^ He then proceeds to speak of a letter 
that Cicero had written, etc. Then, speaking of 
the Gallic war directly, he says, p. 228: '^Caesar 
had evidently formed the plan of making him- 
self master without employing arms; he reck- 
oned upon destroying the Republic by a slow 
and internal revolution and by preserving, as 
much as possible in so illegal an attempt, the 
outward form of legality. By multiplying dis- 
sensions, by becoming the secret accomplice of 
Catiline and Clodius, he wearied timid repub- 
licans of a too-troubled liberty and prepared 
them to sacrifice it willingly to repose. He 
hoped in this way that the Republic, shaken by 
these daily attacks, which exhausted and tired 
out its intrepid defenders, would at last fall 
without noise and without violence. But, to our 

^"Cicero and His Friends," p. 227. 



114 Ccesar^s Character 

great surprise, at the moment when this skil- 
fully planned design seemed on the point of suc- 
ceeding, we see Caesar suddenly give it up. Af- 
ter that consulship in which he had governed 
alone, reducing his colleague to inaction and the 
senate to silence, he withdraws from Rome for 
ten years, and goes to attempt the conquest of an 
unknown country. What reasons decided him to 
this unexpected change? We should like to be- 
lieve that he felt some disgust for that life of 
base intrigues that he led at Rome, and wished 
to invigorate himself in labors more worthy of 
him ; but it is much more likely that, after hav- 
ing seen clearly that the Republic would fall of 
itself, he understood that he would require an 
army and military renown to gain the mastery 
over Pompey. It was then, without enthusiasm, 
without passion, designedly and on calculation, 
that he decided to set out for Gaul." We repeat 
that this view is stated by the ancient authori- 
ties without exception, and it is from them that 
we get our knowledge of these matters. ' ' 

After Caesar set out for Gaul he had an army 
dependent on him, which De Quincey well ex- 
plains (''The Caesars," p. 52): ''It is re- 
markable that, even in his character of com- 
mander-in-chief, when the number of legions 
allowed to him for the accomplishment of 
his mission raised him for a number of 
years above all fear of coercion or control, he 
persevered steadily in the same plan of provid- 
ing for the day when he might need assistance 
not from but against the state. For amongst 



Moral Character of Ccesar 115 

the private anecdotes that came to light under 
the researches made into his history, after his 
death, was this: that soon after his first en- 
trance upon his government in Gaul he had 
raised, equipped, disciplined and maintained, 
from his own private funds, a legion amounting 
perhaps to six or seven thousand men who 
were bound by no sacrament of military obedi- 
ence to the state, nor owed fealty to any aus- 
pices except those of Caesar." 

Having Gaul allotted to him, and raising an 
army depending upon himself, his next step was 
to secure active employment. He did not hesi- 
tate long. He gave as his reason for commenc- 
ing hostilities in Gaul that he wished to pro- 
tect the Gauls from the Germans. Cato said, at 
the time, that he was raising and drilling an 
army to eventually overthrow the Roman com- 
monwealth. 

Long speaks of his getting territory, and says 
if he could not find he could create active em- 
ployment. 

That he did create active employment is made 
clear to us by the writers who have written on 
this period of Eoman history. 

Plutarch says of the beginning of the Gallic 
War, in ''The Life of Cato": ''Caesar had fall- 
en upon the Germans, though at peace luith the 
Romans, and slain 300,000 of them." 

Suetonius savs of the beginning of this war 
C'J. CiBsar," XXIV): 

''From this period [after collecting army] he 
declined no occasion of war, however unjust 



116 Ccesar's Character 

and dangerous; attacking, without any provo- 
cation, as well the allies of Eome as the bar- 
barous nations which were its enemies; inso- 
much that the senate passed a decree for send- 
ing commissioners to examine into the condition 
of Gaul." 

Dio Cassius says the following of the begin- 
ning of this war, and with this let us end, 
so as not to take up any unnecessary space 
(''Roman History," B. 38, chap. 31) : ''Ccdsar 
found no hostility in Gaul: everything ivas ab- 
solutely quiet. The state of peace, however, did 
not continue, but to one war which at first arose 
against him another was added, so that his 
greatest wish was fulfilled, of making war 
against and setting right ever^^thing at once." 

A glance at the causes of these wars in Gaul, 
according to Caesar's own account, will show 
how little provoked they were. 

In the first war Caesar took it upon him- 
self to chastise what he considered the over- 
aggressive Germans. 

In the second war, "while Caesar was in win- 
ter quarters in Hither Gaul frequent reports 
were brought to him, and he was informed by 
letters from Labienus that all the Belgae were 
entering into a confederacy against the Roman 
people." That was all Caesar needed, and the 
war began. 

Third war, Gauls uprise. Sufficient evidence, 
dear reader, for Caesar to commence hostilities. 

In the following year (fourth war) the Usip- 
etes and Tenchtheri had crossed the Rhine. 



Moral Character of Ccesar 117 

The motive for crossing the river was that, hav- 
ing been for several years harassed by the 
Suevi, they were constantly engaged in war, 
and hindered from the pursuits of agriculture. 
Caesar considered this sufficient cause, firstly, 
to punish the Tenchtheri and Usipetes for being 
driven from Germany, and secondly, to chas- 
tise the Suevi for doing so. War was the re- 
sult. In the fifth year the reason he does not 
have war with the Pirustse is because he suc- 
cessfully bullied them; they gave hostages to 
prevent CaBsar from "visiting their state with 
war." In this year he again invades Britain, 
which he had tried the year before, when he 
gives the reason that the Britons had helped 
the Gauls in their wars. (B. IV, chap XX.) 

He does not tell us how many armies, what 
amount of cavalry and how much provisions the 
Britons had sent to the Gauls since the preced- 
ing year, but, at any rate, he deemed it neces- 
sary to again see the Britons. 

Caesar's reason, of course, has no weight; 
Caesar invaded Britain for the same reason that 
he crossed the Rhine. 

Plutarch: "His true nature was an avidity 
of fame, to be the first Roman that ever crossed 
the Rhine in a hostile manner." 

In the sixth year Caesar raises additional 
forces and starts warfare because, like the 
criminal that kills on suspicion, he ^'expects a 
greater commotion in Gaul." That is the way 
Caesar began his wars. 

The wars in Gaul are designated the "Gallic 



118 C Cesar's Character 

War/' They should not be, because they were 
not connected, but were a series of wars. 
Strange as it may seem, at the end of each 
winter the Gauls and Germans would become 
mischievous, and it would become necessary to 
*^ spank" them. 

We know, however, that Csesar forced the 
war in Spain during his prsetorship, in order to 
obtain military glory and a bunch of money to 
pay off his debts. We will conclude correctly 
when we say that this and the purpose of drill- 
ing his army to eventually overthrow the con- 
stitution of his country was the cause of the 
wars in Gaul. 

As the causes of the Civil War have already 
been shown, we have now reached a point where 
we can make a statement that should carry 
weight. 



His mahing tvar in Spain and extorting money 
from its inhabitants was done to secure to him- 
self military glory and the consulship. 

The consulship was secured in order to be 
in a position to have the province of Gaul given 
him. The plots and conspiracies in which he was 
involved at Eome were used to weaken the gov- 
ernment which he was planning to overthrow. 

The province of Gaul was made nse of in 
building up an army which was trained by and 
devoted to him. 

The Civil War was forced upon his own coun- 
try by Julius Csesar, in order to fulfill his dream 



Moral Character of CcBsar 119 

of universal dominion which he had planned for 
from his youth, regardless of the detriment it 
caused his countrymen and the number of lives 
lost and suffering it caused humanity. 

This surely is a plain and all-embracing pas- 
sage, but it can afford to be so, for it has all the 
historians of antiquity and the greatest of the 
modern historians back of it. 



In concluding we will give a passage or two, 
to verify what has already been said, and at 
the same time show the strength of language 
used concerning this character. 

Middleton ("Life of Cicero,^' p. 547): ''It 
is certain that the Republic was well nigh re- 
duced to a state of total anarchy when Caesar 
usurped the command, but it is equally certain 
that he himself had been the principal author 
and fomentor of those confusions which ren- 
dered an absolute authority the only possible ex- 
pedient for reducing the commonwealth into a 
state of tranquillity and good order. If this be 
true [and it is], it seems no very intricate ques- 
tion to determine what verdict ought to be 
passed upon Caesar.'' 

Same writer, p. 221 : ' ' Thus fell Caesar on the 
celebrated Ides of March, after he had ad- 
vanced himself to a height of power which no 
conqueror had ever attained before him; 
though to raise the mighty fabric he had made 
more desolation in the ivorld than any man per- 



120 CcBsar's Character 

haps who had ever lived in it. He used to say 
that his conquests of Gaul cost about 1,200,000 
lives, and if we add the civil wars to the ac- 
count they could not cost the Republic much 
less in the more valuable blood of its best 
citizens. Yet, when through a perpetual course 
of faction, violence, rapine and slaughter, he 
made his way at last to empire, he did not en- 
joy the quiet possession of it above five 
months. ' ' 

Arnold (''History of The Roman Common- 
wealth," p. 367), in summing up the life and 
character of this man, says of him : ' ' If from the 
intellectual we turn to the moral character of 
Cassar, the whole range of history can hardly 
furnish a picture of greater deformity. Never 
did any man occasion so large an amount of 
human misery with so little provocation. In 
his campaigns in Gaul he is said to have de- 
stroyed 1,000,000 of men in battle and to have 
made prisoners 1,000,000 more, many of whom 
were destined to perish as gladiators, and all 
were torn from their country and reduced to 
slavery. The slaughter which he occasioned in 
the civil wars cannot be computed; nor can we 
estimate the degree of suffering caused in every 
part of the empire by his spoliations and confis- 
cations, and by the various acts of extortion 
and oppression which he tolerated in his follow- 
ers. When we consider that the sole objects of 
his conquests in Gaul were to enrich himself 
and to discipline his army, that he might be en- 
abled the better to attack his country; and that 



Moral Character of Ccesar 121 

the sole provocation on which he commenced 
the Civil War was the resolution of the senate 
to recall him from a command which he had al- 
ready enjoyed for nine years, after having oh- 
tained it in the beginning by tumult and vio- 
lence; we may judge what credit ought to be 
given him for his clemency in not opening lists 
of proscription after his sword had already cut 
olf his principal adversaries and leveled their 
party with the dust ' ' ( 1 ) . 

^'His camp," says the same historian (p. 
224), ''presented a place of refuge to the 
needy, the profligate, the debtors, and even the 
criminals, who found it convenient to retreat 
from the capital (2). 

''When it is remembered that the object of 
all this profusion was the enslaving of his coun- 

(1) Speaking of Caesar not proscribing his enemies and 
showing clemency toward them, Arnold speaks as follows 
(p. 332) : "After the deaths of Pompey, of Scipio, of L. Do- 
mitius, of M. Bibulus, of L. Lentulus and M. Cato, and of 
all the most eminent citizens of the commonwealth, whom 
could Caesar wish to proscribe?" 

Further down: "If he had wished to get rid of all those 
whose interests were incompatible with his own, he must 
have destroyed every free citizen in the empire. Caesar's 
policy was to draw a veil over the past, as far as possible; 
and conciliate, by an apparent clemency, those whom he 
held in subjection." 

(3) That Caesar's army, both in the Gallic and the Civil 
Wars, was made up of the criminals, obnoxious and profligates 
of all Italy, we infer is well known. There were two rea- 
sons for this: Firstly, these men were out of employment, 
and had a poor or no home and were, therefore, more eas- 
ily pressed into his service by promises of plunder; sec- 
ondly, only men of criminal tendencies could be used in the 
purposes he wished to use them; good men would never 
have done in securing his ends. 



122 CcBsar's Character 

try, and that the means which enabled him to 
practise it were derived from the unprovoked 
pillage of the towns and temples of Ganl and 
the sale of those unfortunate barbarians who, 
in the course of his unjust wars, became his 
prisoners, it may be justly doubted 'whether the 
life of any individual recorded in history was 
ever productive of a greater amount of human 
misery, or has been marked with a deeper stain 
of tvickedness/' 



TRAITS OF C^SAE'S CHARACTER AND 

EFFECT OF THIS TYPE OF 

MEN UPON WORLD 

THE AKGUMENT 

The reason for some ridiculous statements 
concerning Caesar's life and career. Those who 
have been influenced by these statements. Com- 
edian Froude says some more humorous things. 
Traits of Caesar's character by the author. 
Some of these traits in detail. Caesar's policy 
in making use of inferior men. Caesar's career 
was concentrated within the circle of his own 
life. The difference of character in Cato, 
Cicero, and Caesar, as shown in their belief in 
an after life. Mommsen kindly convicts Caesar. 
Great men are the leaders and models for the 
rest of humanity; it, therefore, is important 
what those men themselves are. The kind of 
a great man Caesar was. Effectiveness one of 
the dominant qualities in this character. The 
question of his genius. This type of men can- 
not build the standard of the human race. A 
question or two concerning this type of men 
and the standard of humanity. An incident at 
a club. 

133 



124 C Cesar's Character 

The worshipers and followers of Cassar have 
stated that Caesar was '^divinely sent" to be a 
savior of society, that he was the founder of 
the Holy Koman Empire, that he paved the way 
for Christianity ! We will not take up space in 
giving the writers who have rejected these state- 
ments and made them look ridiculous, but will 
do what is better, namely, get directly at the 
origin of these assertions. 

The followers of Caesar, knowing the impossi- 
bility of defending Caesar's life, motives, and 
means, have refrained from explaining and ex- 
amining them entirely, and have come forth on 
the other side with the absurd, ridiculous, out- 
of-place declaration that he was divinely sent ! 
But the absurdity of this apparently insane dec- 
laration can be seen when we remember that 
this is the only argument (if such a thing can 
be called an argument) that Caesar's followers 
have been able to set forth in defense of Caes- 
ar's enormous personal vices and his treason 
against his country. All can then understand, 
let us repeat, why so depraved a character 
should be deified. 

The fact to be emphasized is that those who 
have defended Caesar have kept scrupulously 
away from his life, his motives, and his means, 
and, in trying to find a means of defense for 
him, have gone to the absurd lengths of deifying 
him, which is the only defense they have ever 
made that has had any weight, because it has 
worked upon the ignorant, unlearned, unculti- 
vated mkids of the masses, but is a thing, in 



Traits of Ccesar's Character 125 

reality, that is as hollow as the inside of a 
circle. 

Froude, among those who have attempted to 
defend Caesar, has been the most extravagant 
in his statements, and has certainly made the 
greatest mess of it. In speaking of the empire 
under the CfBsars, Froude would have us be- 
lieve it was not far from idealic, and says, as a 
boost for Caesar, that if this condition had not 
existed *' Christianity must have been stifled in 
its cradle."^ What think you of that, Chris- 
tians? It shows one thing, namely, to what absurd 
lengths the worshipers of a man can be carried. 
But we have compassion on Froude; for, in his 
statement, he seems to have a concern for Chris- 
tianity, and we wish to console him with the fact 
that Christianity will not be stifled that easily. 

Froude compares Christ and Caesar when he 
says: ^'Strange and startling resemblance be- 
tween the fate of the founder of the kingdom 
of this world and of the Founder of the king- 
dom not of this world. "^ He goes on to say: 
^^Each was denounced for making himself a 
king; each was maligned as the friend of 
publicans and sinners ; each was betrayed by 
those whom he had loved and cared for; each 
was put to death; and Caesar, also, was believed 
to have risen again and ascended into heaven 
and become a divine being. ' ' 

Froude gets his statement of the divinity of 
Caesar from a passage in Suetonius, which fol- 

^Froude's "Caesar," p. 548. 
^Ibid, p. 549. 



126 Ccesar^s Character 

lows : ^ 'He was ranked among the gods, not only 
by a formal decree, but in the belief of the vul- 
gar. For during the first games which Augus- 
tus, his heir, consecrated to his memory, a 
comet blazed for seven days together, rising al- 
ways about eleven o 'clock, and it was supposed 
to he the soul of Ccesar, now entered into 
heaven. ' '^ 

We wish to repeat a thing that has been spoken 
of before, and which cannot be overemphasized ; 
nameh^, it was the vulgar, the simple-minded, 
ignorant people upon whom Caesar, his friends 
and his worshipers have worked, both in his 
own time and upon posterity, and who gave 
credit to such ridiculous circumstances. 

These men of the Caesar type are devoid of 
sentiment, do not possess a developed imagina- 
tive faculty, are wanting in moral sense; in 
short, are devoid of the higher mental faculties 
which enable men to approach the divine. Action 
was thewhole thingwith him ; he was not a great 
thinker. His plans, although on a large scale, 
were very simple and very plain ; they were not 
the result of thought, but of passion. He used 
identically that kind of thought that a criminal 
uses in planning out in detail the murder of a 
man! 

Passion (evil passion) spurred him on in all 
his projects, his thought was subservient to his 
passion ; if there were mistakes, the animal was 
there to cover them. Power was his great am- 

^"J. Caesar," chap. LXXXVIII. 



Traits of Ccesar's Character 127 

bition, and this, it can plainly be seen, was based 
upon fear. Fear, we repeat, was tlie foundation 
upon which his power was built, for it was by 
infusing it into those under him that he con- 
trolled them. 

Fear has a depressing and deadening etfect 
upon men, but they that employ it are not con- 
cerned about that ; whoever is depressed is sub- 
missive, and that is the point they seek. But 
the point is, what light can spring from fear, 
what good is derived from it! Flowers do not 
grow in the dark, nor will anything ever spring 
from the human heart oppressed with fear. 
And so it is even with this man's followers. 
Caesar is not loved, he is feared — feared on ac- 
count of his position. Those that pretend to 
have love for him do not love the man but the 
type of man he represents, which is self-love. 

Probably the two most prominent traits in 
these men of the Caesar type are their power of 
destructiveness and the faculty of secretiveness. 
The former power is used to pull down the mer- 
its and works of others and to minimize the ac- 
tions of their opponents. Their gain and glory 
is attended not by setting themselves above that 
which is already up, but by tearing down all 
that is up, and setting themselves on top of it. 
It thus becomes manifest, does it not, that when 
these men flourish all others go down? 

Caesar 's secretive faculty was strongly marked 
and was shown in his ability to hide his real de- 
signs and purposes, in his shrewdness, dupli- 
city and deception. His approach to important 



128 CcBsar's Character 

matters was always indirect, his real feelings 
and passions never manifested themselves open- 
ly, but always in secret; the murder of Vettius 
and Lucius Caesar being the best examples/ 

His appearance of justice and sincerity was 
better than any honest man could ever attain to, 
and was one of the means of his falseness being 
discovered ! These traits were paraded by him 
as a matter of policy, in order to draw people 
away from his real designs, but in his eager- 
ness to do this he overdid the thing. 

Force, one of his prominent qualities, was bal- 
anced by sharpness, and his boldness by caution. 

One of the best examples of his duplicity was 
when he shed tears over Pompey's head, and 
shortly afterward, upon his defeat of Pharna- 
ces, saying that Pompey did not do so much by 
conquering men- that he could conquer with 
such extreme ease. Probably the best example 
of his deception was in drawing Pompey into 
the Triumvirate. Caesar, who formed the 
scheme, easily saw that the chief advantage 
of it would necessarily rebound to himself. He 
knew that the old enmity of the other two, 
though it might be palliated, could never be 
healed without leaving a secret jealousy between 
them ; and as, by their common help, he was soon 
to make himself superior to all others, so by 
managing the one against the other he hoped to 
gain a superiority, also, over them both.^ 

^'•'Dio Cassius," B. 43, chap. 12. 

2Pharnaces was the son of Mithridates; the latter had 
been conquered by Pompey. 
^Dio Cassius — "Roman History," B. 37, chap. 56. 



Traits of Ccesar^s Character 129 

Middleton, p. 85 : ^ ' Pompey, by Ms alliance 
with Caesar, lent his authority to the nurs- 
ing up of a rival, who gained upon him daily 
in credit, and grew too strong for him at last 
in power. The people's disaffection began to 
open his eyes and make him sensible to his er- 
ror; which he frankly owned to Cicero, and 
seemed desirous of entering into measures with 
him to retrieve it. He saw himself on the brink 
of a precipice, where to proceed was ruinous, 
to retreat ignominious : the honest were become 
his enemies, and the factious had never been his 
friends ; but though it was easy to see his mis- 
take it was difficult to find a remedy. Cicero 
pressed the only one which could be effectual — 
an immediate breach with Caesar — and used all 
arguments to bring him to it. But Caesar was 
more successful, and drew Pompey quite away 
from him [Cicero], and, having got possession, 
entangled him so fast that he could never dis- 
engage himself until it loas too late/' 

It should be remembered this attempt of Pom- 
pey to get away from Caesar was made before 
the latter allotted to himself the province of 
Gaul. 

This man's powers of deception were great; 
but this very fact makes it the more difficult to 
deny them. With exceptions (Cato and Cicero) 
Caesar deceived the Eoman world in his own 
time as to his real character and purposes, and 
they were not discovered until he had made him- 
self Dictator. The people (that is, the masses 



130 C Cesar's Character 

and the senate) now were made aware of this 
man's real intentions, with the known result. 

Another faculty that was openly manifested 
in the life of this man was his propensity to 
punish men for what he considered the "evil in 
men." Now, if this were true, why did he not 
start with himself? The fact, dear reader, is 
that every Roman was "evil" in the eyes of 
Caesar, that came into conflict with his own pur- 
poses. A trait that this propensity gave birth to 
was one that is well developed in criminals and 
desperadoes, namely, to shoot a man on suspi- 
cion. Caesar never waited for evidence; he acted 
on suspicion, and sometimes did not have even 
that. 

An analysis of Caesar's practices and the 
means employed by him give us an insight into 
the character of the man not to be obtained 
otherwise. 

Caesar not only never made an attempt to 
check the weaknesses of others, but encouraged 
them by making use of them as a means to gain 
his own purposes. He, all his life, made use of 
the weaknesses of his subordinates to gain his 
own desires; if a man's vanity could not be 
tickled he was offered gold, rank was given to 
the ambitious; if women were a man's weak- 
ness, they were accordingly furnished. In this 
manner, the ivorst prinriple a man can make 
use of, Julius Caesar used unsparingly through- 
out his career. 

Most historians have remarked that he made 
use of only inferior men, usually beings of mean 



Traits of CcEsar's Character 131 

ability, that he harbored criminals and profli- 
gates, and when in power raised foreigners to 
high positions in the Government. His worship- 
ers have said that he thus showed sympathy 
for the weak and unfortunate and, therefore, it 
was a generous act. Let us see if it was. Could 
Caesar possibly have done anything which would 
secure more control over the senate and the dif- 
ferent offices of the Government than by him- 
self filling them up with Gauls and foreigners 
rather than his oum discontented countrymen? 
That is the way Julius Ca3sar ' ' helped the unfor- 
tunate." This is characteristic of bad men in 
power. They do not raise the worthless and the 
unknown for the benefit of the latter ; but, being 
better able to use them as tools than men of 
worth and ability, by giving them appointments, 
they make their oivn poiver more secure. 

It is to be remarked that selfish men, who are 
always evil, look with satisfaction upon inferior 
persons (mentally and morally), for they can 
use the latter for their own purposes. On the 
other hand, there has never existed one of these 
men who did not look with an evil eye upon all 
men of ability and merit, and who did not do 
everything in his power to drag them down. Is 
this beneficial to humanity? Is there a greater 
drawback, a worse weight upon mankind than 
those men? Napoleon is a good example. War- 
fare went up with him at the head, whereas lit- 
erature went down. 

Cjpsar employed, in his army, a system of re- 
wards and punishments that is typical of this 



132 CcEsar's Character 

type of men. It was done to induce his men to 
exert themselves to the utmost and to make them 
all have respect for their leader. ' ' Sometimes, ' ' 
Suetonius relates, ''after a great battle ending 
in victory, he would grant them a relaxation 
from all kinds of duty, and leave them to revel 
at pleasure; being used to boast 'that his sol- 
diers fought none the worse for being well 
oiled.' "^ Caesar's so-called "generosity to the 
vanquished" has been made much of by his wor- 
shipers. Probably it has been done unwisely, 
for it has attracted the notice of many who 
would have otherwise passed it unnoticed. 

In the biography of M. Forsyth there is this 
passage: "Let those who, like De Quincey, 
Mommsen and others, speak disparagingly of 
Cicero, and are so lavish in praise of Caesar, 
recollect that Caesar never was troubled with a 
conscience. ' ' 

Crassus and Pompey occasionally showed 
what, in criminal language, is called "a yellow 
streak" — that is, a sig-n that they had a con- 
science. Crassus did so when his heart failed 
him in appearing at the first conspiracy; Pom- 
pey several times did so. But the fact that these 
men did show signs of that state of mind is to 
their honor. It showed that* their conscience, 
that which is the life of a man, although blunted, 
yet had a spark of existence. 

Caesar could commit crimes that the other two 
together could not equal, but he never showed 
the slightest glimmer of a conscience. 
i"J. 0^sar,"LXVII. 



Traits of Gcesar^s Character 133 

Caesar's thoughts were concentrated within 
the circle of his own life. He worked not for 
the future, nor regarded the past. It was natu- 
ral, then, was it not, that this characteristic of 
his nature, combined with his immoral charac- 
ter, should not put credit in an after-life! 

His belief, as expressed in his own words: 
^'What is, indeed, the truth, that in trouble and 
distress, death is a relief from suffering, and 
not a torment; that it puts an end to all human 
woes; and that, beyond it, there is no place 
either for sorrow or joy."^ 

Attempts have been made to defend this be- 
lief, saying that he lived in an immoral age, etc., 
but they are too thin to handle. Caesar did not 
believe in an after-life, because he did not wish 
that there should be any. He did not care to 
take the consequences of his enormous personal 
sins and public crimes. Caesar was an Epicurean 
and a worldly man, and that is the reason he 
held no belief in an after-life. 

Cato and Cicero both held a different opinion 
on this matter, for they held a belief in an after- 
life, and the lives and careers of these two, in 
contrast with that of Caesar, is a lesson from 
which mankind can profit. 

Mommsen says of Catiline that he was (''Eo- 
man History'^) ^^one of the most nefarious men 
in that nefarious age; his villainies belong to 
the criminal records, not to history." And then 
he compares Caesar to him. P. 239: ^* Caesar 
had been little more than what Catiline was. 

^Sallust's "Catiline." 



134 C Cesar's Character 

The chief of a political party which had dwin- 
dled almost into a club of conspirators." Then 
he speaks of Curio, and compares those two. 
P. 471 : "Although Curio had no military experi- 
ence and was notorious for his dissolute life, 
there was a spark of Caesar's own spirit in the 
fiery youth. He resembled Caesar, inasmuch as 
he had drained the cup of pleasure to the 
dregs." (Mommsen goes on and tells in what 
other ways Curio resembled Caesar.) Mommsen 
does well in comparing such men as Catiline and 
Curio with Caesar, but did he realize, when he 
did so, that he condemned Caesar? 

Schlegel, like Mommsen, also brings out the 
resemblance of Caesar to Catiline and his hatred 
of Marcus Cato. In fact Caesar himself admit- 
ted it, but in doing so he unknowingly empha- 
sized the two types of men upon which depends 
the standard of mankind. 

Is not the world to be judged by its men! Then 
is not the standard of the world to depend upon 
its first men 1 Many have said that ' ' the world 
is evil." It is only such in that it is judged by 
its evil men. Therefore, is it beyond the com- 
prehension of any to see that it is neither 
proper nor profitable that evil men should make 
up the standard of the human race? 

As great men are regarded as the leaders of 
mankind, and therefore decide what hmnanity 
shall be, it is of infinite importance what those 
great men themselves are. 

Caesar is called a great statesman and politi- 
cian because he could cheat, falsify, deceive and 



Traits of Ccesar's Character 135 

bribe better than anybody else; called a great 
general because he could use more perfidy, trick- 
ery and slaughter more of humanity than any 
other general ; called a great writer because he 
could speak of unprovoked wars against foreign 
nations, and forcing war upon his own country 
in a quiet, unpretending style. Are those kind 
of great men beneficial to humanity! 

But to come more directly to the character of 
our subject: There is in this character with 
which we deal no beauty, no sentiment, no scru- 
ples, no virtue. No, absolutely none. Every- 
thing is effectiveness, and that is concentrated 
with great intensity upon himself, and himself 
alone. Aside from this effectiveness there is 
nothing in this man. This type of men never 
get beyond themselves. All their effort is for 
the purpose of self-gain. In different ways do 
they desire this gain, which is immediate pleas- 
ure and perishable. In some it is the desire of 
power over nations, in others power over men. 
The gain is concentrated with great intensity 
upon one man — and one man alone — and this 
makes necessary the loss of all others. Those 
who claim that Caesar's fame has not perished 
need be reminded that Caesar strove not for 
fame, but for power over nations, men and their 
affairs, and the fame accompanied the former. 
This man's soul was in getting this nefarious 
power, which proved detrimental both in his 
own time and to posterity. Fame went with the 
former, and he received them both, but the price 
was not cheap. 



136 CcBsar's Character 

That lie had great gifts is not to be doubted 
but affirmed. If he possessed greater gifts than 
others, for making them serve his evil purposes, 
was he not that much the worse man! What evil 
on earth is greater than that an evil purpose 
should be backed by great genius 1 Does not, we 
repeat, evil purpose backed by genius make him 
the worse man"? Might was everything to him, 
and his life was a continuous carnival of vio- 
lence filled with dying humanity in the most 
eastern countries, ruined countries in the west, 
and his own country, after being splurged with 
blood, and having its liberties taken away, rose 
up against this demon and put an end to his 
existence. 

Militarism is the best that the name of Caesar 
has ever stood for; that is, the right of the 
sword, if such an expression can be conceived 
without irony. ''Arms and laws do not flourish 
together"^ is his own expression, and his life and 
career show that he faithfully followed out this 
dictum. History, probably, records no man who 
trusted greater to the one or disregarded the 
other more. However these men of might may 
shake countries and take and bestow kingdoms^ 
at will, they cannot build the standard of the hu- 
man race. The reason of this is that this tjioe 
of men do not embrace the human race, nor is 
this the highest manifestation of the human 
being. 

^Plutarch— "Life of Csesar." 

^He took Rome to himself and bestowed Egypt upon Cleo- 
patra. 



Traits of Ccesar^s Character 137 

In his life Caesar opposed and was opposed by 
Pompey, who was the defender of his country; 
Cato, Cicero and, lastly, Brntus. This fact 
means that he had all the good men of his own 
time opposing him. His own army was made 
np of identically the same brand of men as Cati- 
line had led, namely, criminals, robbers and 
profligates. This fact history shows to be trne 
and, in itself, is a thing of awful weight. It is 
a thing that the most evil can neither erase nor 
lessen and, if nothing else were proven against 
this man, it would leave an indelible stain upon 
his character that will remain as long as the 
human race exists. v 

Good men of the world, Christians and oth- 
ers, do you accept this type of man — utterly de- 
void of moral sense, having no sentiment or ten- 
derness, having the faculty to destroy all, but 
save none, as the type of man to uplift man- 
kind? His faith never reached beyond what he 
called ''men" — in this case, creatures that were 
more brute than human — and his whole trust 
was in ''soldiers and money." Do you consent 
that the world's standard should be built on 
"soldiers and money"! Will you look up to 
that type of man as your savior, or your guide, 
as one who benefits mankind, whoi works solely 
for himself to the detriment of all others? 

Not only do this type of men mirror their 
character upon those under them and succeed- 
ing posterity, but they corrupt the former by 
harboring only those traits and characteristics 
that are, in themselves, destroying all others. In 



138 C Cesar's Character 

this way human life is made what it is, not only 
by custom, habits and ideas, but by the influ- 
ence men in power have over the masses. 

'Not only was this man the corrupter of his 
country, thus being an instance of a traitor un- 
exampled in history, but the despoiler of pos- 
terity, of mankind after him. There is no 
greater evil, no more depressing influence upon 
mankind than the life and character of this man 
^and the type of men he represents. 

The author was at a club in which "the stand- 
ard of humanity" was discussed. They brought 
in the great men of the world to illustrate their 
arguments. Men of the type of Caesar predomi- 
nated. The men discussed, first, the deeds of 
these men. Then their means were discussed, 
and a discussion of their various qualities, traits 
and characteristics followed. They observed 
that men noted for their action were usually 
considered the greatest, and that those, of all 
men, were the most unscrupulous in their means. 
Then their traits, such as secretiveness and de- 
structiveness, were discussed, and it was shown 
that practically their whole life depended on 
these qualities ; the immorality and duplicity of 
their lives were gone over in detail. The dis- 
cussion was finally concluded by one of the mem- 
bers, in which he finished thus: "Well, the 
standard of mankind is pretty low, isn't it!" 
And so it is throughout the world; such conclu- 
sions will alwaj^s be arrived at as long as the 
type of men represented by Julius Caesar are 
used. 



Traits of Ccesar^s Character 139 

A^^ien men possessing the faculties mentioned^ 
are neglected and men of the former kind used 
as examples, is it a wonder that the verdict is 
returned, ''the standard of mankmd is low"f 
It will always be low if men are judged by the 
type we condemn. 

'The higher mental qualities, including the moral sense, 
imagination and sentiment. 



C^SAE'S DEATH 

THE AKGUMENT 

^^All good men bore a part in the slaying of 
Caesar." Almost universal discontent. Sue- 
tonius on Caesar's death. The speech of Mark 
Antony. The office of Dictator abolished, and 
Cicero's remarks on the subject. The assas- 
sination and the death of Caesar not the same 
thing. The joke about ''Caesar's enemies be- 
ing punished," answered. The morality of the 
assassination of Caesar. 



Of this event Floras says :^ "Thus he who had 
deluged the world with the blood of his coun- 
trymen deluged the senate-house at last with 
his own." Thus ended the shameful career of 
''the Lucifer, the Protagonist, of all anti- 
quity. ' '^ 

Middleton, in his "Life of Cicero," p. 221: 
"Thus fell Caesar on the celebrated Ides of 
March, after he had advanced himself to a 
height of power which no conqueror had ever 

^"Plorus," B. IV, chap. II. 
'De Quincey — "The Caesars." 

140 



Ccesar^s Death 141 

attained before him ; though, to raise the mighty 
fabric, he had made more desolation in the world 
than any man, perhaps, who had ever lived in 
it. He used to say that his conquests of Gaul 
cost about 1,200,000 lives. And if we add the 
civil wars to the account they could not cost the 
Republic much less in the more valuable blood 
of its best citizens; yet, when through a per- 
petual course of faction, violence, rapine, 
slaughter, he made his way at last to empire, 
he did not enjoy the quiet possession of it above 
five months." 

Boissier — '^Cicero and His Friends," p. 300: 
^ ' The stab of Brutus ' dagger was not altogether 
an unpremeditated incident or chance; it was 
the general uneasiness of men's minds which 
led to and which explains such a terrible catas- 
trophe. The conspirators were but little over 
sixty in number, but they had all Rome for their 
accomplice." ''In truth," says Cicero, in his 
Second Philippic, ''all good men, as far as it 
depended upon them, bore a part in the slaying 
of CsBsar. Some did not know how to contrive 
it, some had not courage for it, some had no 
opportunity, everyone had the inclination." 

Boissier, continued, p. 192: "Among those 
who killed Cassar were found, perhaps, his best 
generals — Sulpicius Galba, the conqueror of the 
Mistuates; Basilius, one of the most brilliant 
cavalry officers ; Decimus Brutus and Trebonius, 
the heroes of the siege of Marseilles." 

P. 330: "The first idea of the plot [against 
Caesar 1 had been formed at the same time in two 



142 C Cesar's Character 

quite opposite parties : among the vanquished at 
Pharsaha and among Caesar's generals them- 
selves. These two conspiracies were probably 
distinct in themselves, and each acted on its 
own account ; while Cassius was thinking of kill- 
ing CsBsar on the banks of the Cydnus, Trebon- 
ius had been on the point of assassinating him 
at Narbonne. They finally united." 

Cicero, in his Second Philippic, p. Q%, says 
the following : ' ' Brutus and Cassius have done 
what no one else had done. Brutus pursued Tar- 
quinius with war; who was a king when it was 
lawful for a king to exist in Rome. Spurius Cas- 
sius, Spurius Mselius and Marcus Manlius were 
all slain because they were suspected of aiming 
at regal power. These are the first men who 
ever ventured to attack, sword in hand, a man 
who was not aiming at regal power, but actually 
reigning. ' ' 

Middleton, in his ^'Life of Cicero," p. 244, 
calls to notice what the latter says in his First 
Philippic: ^'That to be dear to our citizens, to 
deserve well of our country, to be praised, be- 
loved, respected, was truly glorious; to be 
feared and hated, alwa5^s invidious, detestable, 
weak and tottering. That Caesar's fate was a 
warning to them how much better it was to be 
loved than to be feared. That no man could live 
happily who held life on such terms that it might 
be taken from him not only tuith impunity, but 
with praise." — Phil. I, 14. 

Middleton also brings in the statements of 
Suetonius on this matter in the following pas- 



C Cesar's Death 143 

sage, p. 222 : ' ^ Suetonius, who treats the charac- 
ters of the Caesars with that freedom which the 
happy reigns in which he lived indulged, upon 
balancing his exact virtues and vices, declares 
him, on the whole, to have been justly killed; 
ivhicJi appears to have been the general sense 
of the best and tvisest and the most disinter- 
ested in Rome at the time ivhen the fact was 
committed."^ 

P. 222: "Caesar's friends charged them [con- 
spirators] with base ingratitude for killing their 
benefactor and abusing the power which he had 
given, to the destruction of the giver. The other 
side gave a contrary turn to it, and extolled the 
greater virtue of the men for not being diverted 
by private considerations from doing an act of 
public benefit." Cicero takes it always in this 
view, and says ^ ' that the Kepublic was the more 
indebted to them for preferring the common 
good to the friendship of any man whatsoever ; 
that, as to the kindness of giving them their 
lives, it was the kindness only of a robber who 



^Trollope — "Cicero," p. 175: "Cicero's form of government 
[Trollope means the orator's idea of government] under 
men who were not Ciceros had been wrong, and had led to 
a state of things in which the tyrant might, for the time, 
be the lesser evil ; but not on that account was Cicero 
wrong to applaud the act which removed Caesar. Middle- 
ton, in his "Life" (B. II, p. 435), gives us the opinion of 
Suetonius on the subject, and tells us that the best and 
wisest men in Rome supposed Caesar to have been justly 
killed. Mr. Forsyth generously abstains from blaming the 
deed, as to which he leaves his readers to form their own 
opinion. Abeken expresses no opinion concerning its mor- 
ality; as does Morabin." 



144 C Cesar's Character 

had first done them the greater wrong by usurp- 
ing the power to take it.'' — Phil. II, 3. 

P. 226 : ^ ' We are not to imagine, however, as 
it is commonly believed, that these violences 
were owing to the general indignation of the 
citizens against the murderers of Caesar, excited 
either by the spectacle of his body, or the elo- 
quence of Antony, who made the funeral ora- 
tion; for it is certain that Caesar, through his 
whole reign, could never draw from the people 
any public signification of their favor; but, 
on the contrary, was constantly mortified by the 
perpetual demonstrations of their hatred and 
disaffection toward him.'' 

Appian—^^ Civil Wars," Vol. II, B. II, chap. 
20, s. 144. Following is an account, in part, of 
Antony's speech by Appian, with which the peo- 
ple in general, and the historians in particular, 
are too little acquainted : 

^ ' He began to read with a severe and gloomy 
countenance, pronouncing each sentence dis- 
tinctly and dwelling especially on those decrees 
which declared Caesar to be superhuman, sacred 
and inviolable, and which named him the father 
of his country, or the benefactor, or the chief- 
tain without a peer." And again: ^^He took his 
position in front of the bier, as in a play, bend- 
ing down to it and rising again, and sang, first, 
as to a celestial deity. In order to testify to 
Caesar's godlike origin, he raised his hands to 
heaven, and with rapid speech recited his wars, 
his battles, his victories, the nations he had 
brought under his country's sway." Again; 



C Cesar's Death 145 

^'Carried away by extreme passion, he uncov- 
ered the body of Caesar, lifted his robe on the 
point of a spear and shook it aloft, pierced with 
dagger-thrusts, red with the Dictator's blood. 
Whereupon the people, like a chorus, mourned 
with him in the most doleful manner, and from 
sorrow became again filled with anger." 
At the end: "While they [the people] 
were in this temper [worked up by Antony's 
arts], and were ready near to violence, some- 
body raised above the bier an image of Caesar 
himself, made of wax. The body itself, as it lay 
on its couch, could not be seen. The image was 
turned round and round by a mechanical device, 
showing the twenty and three wounds in all 
parts of the body and on the face, which gave 
him a sliocking appearance. [Plainly a premed- 
itated scheme.] The people could no longer 
bear the pitiful sight presented to them. They 
groaned, and girding themselves, they burned 
the senate-chamber where Caesar was slain, and 
ran hither and thither, searching for the mur- 
derers, who had fled some time previously." 

Middleton: ''What happened, therefore, at 
the funeral was the effect of artifice and fac- 
tion, the work of a mercenary rabble, the greater 
part slaves and strangers, bated and prepared 
for violence, against a party unarmed and pur- 
suing pacific counsels, and placing all their trust 
and confidence in the justice of their cause. 
Cicero calls it a conspiracy of Caesar's f reed- 
men (Att. XIV, 5) who were the chief managers 
of the tumult, in which the Jews seem to have 



146 CcBsar\s Character 

borne a considerable part, who, ont of hatred 
to PomiDey for his affront to their city and tem- 
ple, were zealously attached to Caesar." 

P. 227: "Among other decrees he offered 
one which was prepared and drawn up by him- 
self, to abolish forever the name and office of 
Dictator. This seemed to be a sure pledge of 
his good intentions, and gave a universal satis- 
faction to the senate, who 23assed it, as it were, 
by acclamation, without putting it even to the 
vote; and decreed the thanks of the house for 
it to Antony, who, as Cicero afterward told him, 
had fixed an indelible infamy by it on Caesar, in 
declaring to the world that, for the o^ium of his 
[Caesar's] government, such a decree was be- 
come both necessary and popular." — Phil. I, 13. 

Such a statement as his enemies "were pur- 
sued by an avenging daemon till they were all 
hunted down" might pass among barbarians 
(necessarily very ignorant ones), or in an in- 
sane asylum, and it must be stated that it has 
been among the vulgar and unlearned that it has 
had weight. But again we refrain from laying 
the blame upon the latter, but upon the inven- 
tors of that fable. 

The assassination of Caesar had nothing to do 
with the civil wars of Augustus and Antony, as 
some worshipers of Caesar have ridiculously 
stated. The death, not the assassination, of 
Caesar was the cause of those wars for suprem- 
acy, just as the death of Alexander and Charle- 
magne was the cause of the civil wars for the 
territory of those respective monarchs. 



C Cesar's Death 147 

As to the much-mooted statement that all, or 
nearly all, the conspirators of Caesar died violent 
deaths, it does not mean that they were "pun- 
ished" for their "crime" (killing a tyrant), as 
some worshipers of Caesar have foolishly de- 
clared. Practically all the men of any worth in 
those days died violent deaths. Trollope, in the 
introduction to his "Caesar," gives a large list 
of names of men in Caesar's time who died vio- 
lently, which includes all men of importaiice, 
with the exception of Augustus. So the wor- 
shipers of Caesar did not say very much 
after all. As to the morality of Caesar's as- 
sassination, aside from what has been said, 
probably many men do not know that Livy, 
probably Rome's greatest historian, openly 
doubted, in the immediate age following, if 
Julius Caesar had been of benefit to the Roman 
commonwealth. After deliberating long upon 
the matter, the author considers that, with the 
exception of Augustus, Rome and the world 
would have been better off if the entire Caesar 
line had never existed. 



BOOK III 
TRIUMPH OF THE GOOD IN CATO 

THE ARGUMENT 

CjBsar not judged by anything he cannot be 
held to account for. The writer confines him- 
self to Cesar's own age and picks out a char- 
acter to contrast with him. Cato, Pompey, and 
CsBsar. Middleton, Boissier, and other authori- 
ties, both ancient and modern. The ' ' Cato ' ' of 
Cicero and the ''Anti-Cato" of Caesar, and the 
survival of Cato's name. Plutarch in defense 
of Cato. Cato triumphs in spite of Csesar's 
work. The characters and careers of Cato and 
Caesar embraced in a single brief speech. An 
example in the world's history. 



Let no reader say that the writer condemns 
Caesar, a pagan, by Christian principles. He 
condemns the man by the principle of right and 
wrong, a principle that existed and was ob- 
served from the beginning of man; a principle 
that was better observed by the ancients, as in- 
dividuals, than by most Christians of to-day. 

For where are the Christians of to-day to com- 

148 



Triumph of the Good in Cato 149 

pare with Plato, Socrates, P. Cato, Seneca, and, 
in Caesar's own corrupt, depraved time, with Q. 
CatuUus, M. Cato and M. Cicero? Those men 
liad a sense of justice and a knowledge of what 
is sincere that are almost unknown to us to-day, 
and THAT is what a man is judged by. The ex- 
ample of Socrates will suffice. ["The Nature of 
Man," Metchenkoff, p. 167.] ''In truth," says 
Socrates, "if I did not expect to find, in another 
life, gods at once good and wise, and men bet- 
ter than those of this life, it would be foolish of 
me not to be disturbed by the approach of death ; 
but I know that I look to finding myself among 
good men. I do not fear to die, because I am 
confident that something still remains after this 
life, and that, according to the old belief, the 
good will be treated better than the bad." 

Christians ! Do you hear the honest, solid faith 
of that ancient philosopher ? How many of you 
have the sincerity and firmness of faith equal 
to that "pagan" some two thousand years back? 

Therefore, let it be repeated that, to show that 
this type of man is to be regarded as a detri- 
ment to man, it is not necessary to go be- 
yond his own age, and to make this the more 
manifest we will contrast him with a character 
of his own time, a character of whom mankind 
need in no wise be ashamed. 

This character is Marcus Cato, the life-long 
opponent of Julius Caesar. 

Middleton, p. 416: "Marcus Cato.— This il- 
lustrious Roman was great-grandson to Marcus 



150 C Cesar's Character 

Cato, the Censor, to whom he was no less allied 

in BLOOD THAN IN VIETUE. 

"Perhaps a character equally perfect is no- 
where to be found in the whole annals of pro- 
fane history; and it may well be questioned 
whether human philosophy ever produced, 
either before or since, so truly great and good 
a man. It is a just observation of Seneca: 
'Magnum rem puta, unum hominem agere.' " 

Though it may be doubted that Cato was more 
moral than Cicero,' yet his character was more 
firm and less complex than the latter, and there- 
fore more easily understood by the people. 

The characters of three of the leading men at 
this time are nowhere better shown than by the 
fact that, a good man, Cato, finding slight 
faults in Pompey, regarded him as repulsive, 
and openly kept away from him; Caesar, who 
found his virtues repulsive, concealed his dis- 
like, in order to make use of his weaker points. 
Thus it was that Pompey, who was mostly a 
good man, appeared to be an opponent of Cato, 
a good man, and the friend of Caesar, a bad man. 
This is as good an example as can be had, for 
men to observe, how a matter can be one way 
and appear to be the opposite. But upon the 
Civil War breaking out, and Cato deciding for 
Pompey, everything fell into its natural place. 

But to speak more specifically of the charac- 
ters of the two men. 



^Cicero's character was a union of intellectual and moral 
abilities seldom met with. 



Triumph of the Good in Cato 151 

C^SAR AND CATO 

How far was Caesar from being able to say, 
with Cato : ' ^ I, who never excused to myself, or 
to my own conscience, the commission of any 
fault, could not easily pardon the misconduct 
or indulge the licentiousness of others." — Cato, 
in his speech on the Conspiracy of Catiline. 

Indeed, we are not overstating the fact when 
we say that Caesar's conduct was the exact op- 
posite to this. His own profligate, immoral 
life was a model of wickedness, and all who came 
in contact with him were corrupted, lured and 
induced to live the same wretched existence. 

Boissier, p. 288: '^Cato's virtues were those 
that Caesar not only did not seek to acquire, but 
which he could not even understand. How could 
he have any feeling for his [Cato's] respect for 
law, for his almost servile attachment to old cus- 
toms ? He, who found a lively pleasure in laugh- 
ing at ancient usages! How could a prodigal, 
who had formed the habit of squandering the 
money of the state, and his own, without reck- 
oning; how could he do justice to those rigor- 
ous scruples that Cato had in the handling of 
the public funds, to the attention he gave to his 
private affairs, and to that ambition, strange 
for that time, of not having more debts than 
assets? These were, I repeat, qualities that 
CcFsar could not comprehend/^ 

The contrast between these two lives, charac- 
ters and careers naturally gave birth to great 



152 CcBsar's Character 

opposition on the part of tlie one and intense 
hatred on the part of the other. 

Not only was Cato the staunch and unyielding 
opponent of Caesar throughout his life, but his 
very death formed an epoch in Koman history 
that Caesar tried in vain to overcome. 

Cato took his own life, it should be remem- 
bered, rather than endure the despotism or re- 
ceive the hollow magnanimity of Caesar. 

Of his death Middleton, p. 485, speaks thus: 
''Thus died this truly great and virtuous Ro- 
man! He had long stood forth the sole uncor- 
rupted opposer of those vices that proved the 
ruin of his degenerate commonwealth, and sup- 
ported, so far as a single man could support, the 
declining constitution. But when his services 
could no longer avail he scorned to survive what 
had been the labor of his whole life to preserve, 
and bravely perished with the liberties of his 
country. '^ That is the purport of that noble 
eulogy which Seneca, in much stronger lan- 
guage, has justly bestowed upon Cato. — De 
Constant. Sapient. 

Boissier — ''Cicero and His Friends," p. 287: 
"His death made an immense impression in the 
Roman world. It put to the blush those who 
were beginning to accustom themselves to slav- 
ery ; it gave a sort of new impulse to the discov- 
ered republicans, and revived opposition. 

" 'The battle raged around the body of Cato,' 
says M. Mommsen,' 'as at Troy it had raged 
around that of Patrocles.' 

^"Roman History." 



Triumph of the Good in Cato 153 

''Fabius Gallus, Brutus, Cicero and many oth- 
ers no doubt, whom we do not know, wrote his 
eulogy. ' ^ 

P. 287: ''His book [Cicero's 'Cato^, that the 
name of the author and the name of the hero 
recommended at once, had so great a success 
that Caesar was uneasy and discontented about 
it. He took care, however, not to show his ill- 
humor ; on the contrary, he hastened to write a 
flattering letter to Cicero to congratulate him 
on the talent he had displayed in his work.'' 

Upon Cato's death, it should be remarked, 
Caesar's attitude was similar to that manifested 
by him upon being shown the head of Pompey ! 
For, upon arriving at Utica and learning of 
Cato 's death, he made a statement much similar 
to the one he made over the head of his former 
rival. Plutarch, "Life of Caesar": ''Cato, I 
envy thee thy death, since thou enviedest me 
the glory of giving thee thy life." And, as in 
the former case, he was immediately condemned 
by the historian giving the account.^ Plutarch 
speaks thus of his present speech: "Neverthe- 
less, by the book which he wrote against Cato 
after his death ['The Anti-Cato'], it does not 
seem as if he had any intentions of favor to him 
before. For how can it be thought he would have 
spared the living enemy, when he poured so 
much venom afterward upon his grave?" 

The contrast, as has been said, between these 

^See pages 69, 70 for the account of Dio Cassius and Lncan 
upon the death of Pompey and Caesar's attitude on the 
occasion. 



154 C Cesar's Character 

two characters brought forth from the one great 
opposition and from the other intense hatred. 

Oman ("Seven Eoman Statesmen," p. 217) 
has the following to say : "Of all the opponents 
with whom he clashed during his stormy career, 
Cato was the only one for whom he nourished a 
real dislike. He showed it by publishing a very 
bitter and unfair satire ['The Anti-Cato'] 
against his memor^^ after he had fallen in the 
Civil War — a deed that contrasts strangely with 
his usual magnanimity to his adversaries.' ' 

The explanation of this is that he compelled 
the rest of his opponents to give in to his un- 
just, unlawful desires to a more or less extent, 
and then followed with what has been called his 
^ ' magnanimity '' ; Cato never gave in to his un- 
lawful desires, and therefore called forth that 
inner soul, but true nature, in Caesar that he 
prided himself on keeping so well concealed 
from others. 

It will be of interest to know some of the 
things Caesar said concerning Cato in this work. 

Plutarch ("Life of Cato"): ''Among the 
friends and followers of Cato some made a more 
open profession of their sentiments than others. 
Among these was Quintus Hortensius, a man of 
great dignity and politeness. 

"Not contented merely with the friendship of 
Cato, he was desirous of a family alliance with 
him; and for this purpose he scrupled not to 
request that his daughter, Portia, who was al- 
ready married to Bibulus, by whom she had two 
children, might be lent to him as a fruitful soil 



Triumph of the Good in Cato 155 

for the purpose of propagation. The thing it- 
self, he owned, was uncommon, but by no means 
unnatural or improper. For why should a wom- 
an in the flower of her age either continue use- 
less until she is past child-bearing, or overbur- 
den her husband with too large a family"? The 
mutual use of women, he added, in virtuous 
families would not only increase a virtuous off- 
spring, but strengthen and extend the connec- 
tions of society. Moreover, if Bibulus should 
be unwilling wholly to give up his wife, she 
should be restored after she had done him the 
honor of an alliance to Cato by her pregnancy. 
Cato answered that he had the greatest regard 
for the friendship of Hortensius, but he could 
not think of his application for another man's 
wife. Hortensius, however, would not give up 
the point here; but when he could not obtain 
Cato's daughter he applied for his [Cato's own] 
wife, saying that she was yet a young woman, 
and Cato's family already large enough. He 
could not possibly make this request upon a sup- 
position that Cato had no regard for his wife; 
for she was, at that very time, pregnant. Not- 
withstanding, the latter, when he observed the 
violent inclination Hortensius had to be allied 
to him, did not absolutely refuse him ; but said 
it was necessary to consult Martia's father, 
Philip, on the occasion. Philip, therefore, was 
appealed to, and his daughter was espoused to 
Hortensius in the presence of and with the con- 
sent of Cato." 
Later on (chap. LII) : ''As his [Cato's] fam- 



156 CcEsar's Character 

ily, and particularly his daughters, wanted a 
projDer superintendent, he took Marcia again, 
who was then a rich widow; for Hortensius was 
dead, and had left her his whole estate. 

^'This circumstance gave Caesar occasion to 
reproach Cato with avarice, and to call him the 
mercenary husband. 'For why,' said he, 'did 
he part with her if he had occasion for her him- 
self f And, if he had not occasion for her, why 
did he take her again? The reason is obvious. 
It was the wealth of Hortensius. He lent the 
young man his wife that he might make her 
a rich widow. ' ' ' That is what Caesar says, and 
instead of pointing out the youth of Hortensius 
and the superhuman power of Cato, attributed 
to him by Caesar, to see the death of Hortensius 
and his leaving Marcia a rich widow, we will 
give the grand and conclusive defense Plutarch 
makes of Cato. 

"But, in answer to this, one need only quote 
that passage of Euripides: 

Call Hercules a coward! 

For it would be equally absurd to reproach 
Cato with covetousness as it would be to charge 
Hercules with want of courage. ' ' 

At another place (''Life of Cato," chap. XI) 
Plutarch speaks of Cato being "left co-heir, with 
Calpio's daughter, to his estate; but when he 
came to divide it he would not charge any part 
of the funeral expenses to her account. Yet, 
though he acted so honorably in that affair, and 



Triumph of the Good in Cato 157 

continued in the same upright path, there was 
one [Julius Caesar, in his ^Anti-Cato']^ who 
scrupled not to write that he passed his bro- 
ther's ashes through a sieve, in search of the 
gold that might be melted down. Surely that 
writer thought himself above being called to ac- 
count for his pen, as ivell as for his sword!' ^ 

Boissier — ''Cicero and His Friends, p. 290: 
''The fragments of it [' Anti-Cato'] that survive 
and the testimony of Plutarch show that he 
[Caesar] attacked him [Cato] with extreme vio- 
lence, and that he tried to make him at once 
ridiculous and odious. 

' ' But it was useless ; it was lost labor. Peo- 
ple continued, notwithstanding his efforts, to 
read and admire Cicero's book. Not only did 
Cato's reputation survive Caesar's insults, it in- 
creased still more under the empire. In Nero 's 
time, when despotism was heaviest, Thrasia 
wrote his history again; Seneca quotes him on 
every page of his books, and to the end he was 
the pride and model of honest men who pre- 
served some feeling of honor and dignity in the 
general abasement of character. ' ' 

Of Cicero's work and Caesar's reply Middle- 
ton, p. 199, speaks as follows : ' ' These two rival 

^Of the "Anti-Cato" Froude says: "Of all the lost writings, 
however, the most to be regretted is the 'Anti-Cato.' " 
Froude should be thankful that the "Anti-Cato" has not 
reached posterity. In that work Csesar came out in the in- 
ner nature, in which was seen all the rottenness of his 
spirit, which he thought he had cleverly hid from the 
world; and we repeat that had that work reached posterity 
Froude's misplaced admiration would have received a se- 
vere jolt. 



158 C Cesar's Character 

pieces were much celebrated in Rome, and had 
their several admirers, as different parties and 
interests disposed to favor the subject or the 
author of each; and it is certain tliat they were 
the principal cause of establishing and propa- 
gating that veneration ivhich posterity has since 
paid to the memory of Cato." 

At another place (p. 534) the same author re- 
marks : ' ' The character of Cato was, at this time, 
the fashionable topic of declamation at Rome; 
and every man that pretended to genius and elo- 
quence furnished the public with an invective 
or commendation upon that illustrious Roman, 
as party or patriotism directed his pen. In this 
respect, as well as in all others, Cato's reputa- 
tion seems to have been attended with every ad- 
vantage that any man tvho is ambitious of a 
good name can desire/' 

Plutarch (^'Life of Cato") ^'Wiat a noble 
and embracing speech was that made by Cato 
shortly before his death! After telling his 
friends to take care of themselves, he says : 'For 
my part, I have been unconquered through life, 
and superior in the tilings I wished to be; for, 
in justice and honor, I am Ccesar's superior. 
Caesar is the vanquished, the falling man ; being 
now clearly convicted of those designs against 
his country which he had long denied.' '^ This 
embraces the characters and careers of both 
men. 

Therefore, we wish to point out, in the cor- 
rupt age with which we deal, the character of 
Cato, although much abused by his enemies, tri- 



Triumph of the Good in Cato 159 

umphed over all opposition in the age of great- 
est adversity, and was steadily upheld by the 
ages following. And, if we use repetition in 
stating that a good man triumphed in one of the 
most corrupt ages the world has seen, it should 
be remembered that we say it in our exultation. 
For this is as fine an example, in the world's his- 
tory, that no matter how bad, how corrupt, the 
world may become, the good cannot he blotted 
out. 

Let mankind take this as an example, that no 
matter by what means or in what field the evil 
may triumph, they shall be defeated in the 
higher qualities, in their own life-time and age, 
and shall receive, no matter how great their tri- 
umph, a terrible condemnation by the better part 
of posterity, and that there is no guile that can 
cover and no force that can thwart and prevent 
this. 



SOME COMPAEISONS 

A man is good or bad, small or great, only in comparison 
with other men; in other words, a man should not be 
judged by himself. 

THE ARGUMENT 

A comparison of Pompey and Caesar. Corio- 
lanus and Caesar. Poe and Caesar. Sulla and 
Caesar. Cicero and Caesar. Washington and 
Caesar. Napoleon and Caesar. Alexander and 
Caesar. Christ and Caesar. The two classes of 
the world's first men. A few prominent traits 
in the character of one of these classes. This 
type of men cannot be eliminated. What to do 
with these natures. 



In speaking of Pompey and Caesar it is only 
fair to state that some writers (Liddel and 
Thomson, for instance) have considered Pom- 
pey the better general of the two, and stated 
that had the latter been prepared, and not been 
hampered by his subordinates, the result would 
have been different. However that is, we will let 
others judge; it is our work always to treat 
with the man. Following is what Arnold says of 
Pompey : 

160 



Some Companions 161 

'^ History of the Eoman Commonwealtli/ ' p. 
298: ''.His [Pompey's] virtues have not been 
transmitted to posterity with their deserved 
fame; and while the violent republican writers 
have exalted the memory of Cato and Brutus; 
while the lovers of literature have extolled Cic- 
ero, and the admirers of successful ability lav- 
ished their praises on Caesar, Pompey's many 
and rare merits have been forgotten in the 
faults of his Triumvirate and in the weakness 
of temper which he displayed in the conduct of 
his last campaign." A reader quoted the fol- 
lowing passage from Shakespere's sonnets after 
Arnold's passage: 

"The painful warrior, famous for fight, 
After a thousand victories, once foiled, 
Is from thy book of honor razed quite. 

And all the rest forgot for which he toiled. ' ' 

In speaking in his defense, Lamartine says, 
"Memoirs of Celebrated Characters," p. 362: 
"Pompey, the idol of the senate, loved by the 
soldiers, the controller and, at the same time, 
the support of the nobility, aspiring not to de- 
stroy, but to command the existing institutions, 
possessing ambition only so far as that passion 
was honorable and patriotic." Further on he 
continues (p. 408) : "The Republic expired with 
the greatest and last of its citizens [Pompey], 
and its remains became the almost undisputed 
prey of CsBsar. The rigJit had fallen at Phar- 
salia, might had become everything." 

Of this pair Middleton, p. 191, says :" It is an 



162 Ccesar^s Character 

observation of all the historians that while 
CaBsar made no difference of power, whether it 
was conferred or usurped, whether over those 
who loved or those who feared him, Pompey 
seemed to value none but what was offered, nor 
to have any desire to govern but with the good 
will of the governed." — Dio, B. XLI, chap. 54. 

This is sufficient for a comparison between 
Pompey and Caasar, for it shows that historians 
look upon Pompey as the defender of his coun- 
try's liberties, whilst the other sought only to 
destroy what the first wished to protect. 

Another comparison drawn by Lamartine is 
interesting, namely, that between Caesar and 
Coriolanus. 

P. 387: "He mastered Italy stage by stage, 
and, surrounded by an army of Gaids, whom he 
had trained to war and enrolled in his cohorts, 
he was the first to lead barbarians against his 
country. 

"Coriolanus, who had formerly brought the 
Volscians to Rome, had done nothing more mon- 
strous, and he had, at least, the excuse of ven- 
geance upon those who had banished him from 
his own land. Caesar's only cause of vengeance 
was the honor and power he had received from 
Rome; yet history has stigmatized Coriolanus 
and deified Caesar. Such is the justice of men 
tvithout reflection, ivho judge of the morality of 
events hy their success/' 

Speaking of a character in our own history, 
it seems strange that one man — our own harm- 
less Poe (that much can surely be said of him) 



Some Companions 163 

— should be judged ^'characterless" and ''de- 
void of any high motives, ' ' condemned here and 
denounced there, and another man — J. Caesar 
— because he was a more successful man and 
better able to deceive the ivorld, should be dei- 
fied and called divine! 

It has been pointed out by some writers, 
among whom is Oman, that he (Caesar) was a 
worse man than even the cruel and bloodthirsty 
Sulla, for the former fought and conquered not 
for Ms party, but for himself. 

Following is what Appian and Suetonius have 
to say of Caesar's desiring the Dictatorship: 

Appian, B. II, chap. 16, s. 107: "Therefore, 
the wearied people especially hoped that he 
would restore the Republic to them, as Sulla did, 
after he had grasped the same power. But in 
this they were disappointed. ' ' 

Suetonius (Jul. 77) says Caesar said: "The Re^ 
public is a mere name without substance or sem- 
blance; Sulla did not know his letters when he 
laid down the Dictatorship." Many people miss 
his meaning. He meant that he did not intend 
to restore the Republic ; that there was nothing 
to it. And this expression coincides exactly with 
his plots, intrigues and wars against that form 
of government. His remark also implies that 
he himself intended to have the sole governing 
power as long as his life lasted; but he soon 
learned that that was not to be long. 

Caesar was naturally a cruel man. One does 
not need Curio's letter, in which he says that 
Caesar showed clemency only through policy, to 



164 Ccesar^s Character 

discern that fact. The historians all down the 
line verify this statement, but one or two ex- 
amples will suffice. 

Oman — ''Seven Roman Statesmen,'' p. 326: 
''There was a widespread impression that his 
first success would be followed by massacres, in 
the style of those by which Marius and Sulla 
had celebrated their capture of Rome. No one 
had forgotten that Caesar's name had once been 
linked with that of Catiline. To cast a glance 
around the circle of his lieutenants was anything 
but reassuring. Assembled around him were all 
the notorious profligates and bankrupts of the 
day — Mark Antony and Curio, Cselius and Dol- 
abella, Vatinius and the rest. They were a sin- 
ister crowd; Cicero called them the y^Kvia, the 
troop of vampires. That any conqueror with 
such a past as Caesar, surrounded by such a gang 
of reprobates, could be intending less than 
wholesale murder and confiscation seemed 
hardlv possible." 

Middleton— "Life of Cicero," p. 176: "There 
was a notion, in the meanwhile, that universally 
prevailed throughout Italy of Caesar's cruel and 
revengeful temper, from which horrible effects 
were apprehended : Cicero himself was strongly 
possessed with it, as appears from many of his 
letters, where he seems to take it for granted 
that he [Caesar] would be a second Phalaris, 
not a Piastratus ; a bloody, not a gentle, tyrant. 
This he inferred from the violence of his past 
life; the nature of his present enterprise; and, 
^bove all, from the nature of his friends and 



Some Companions 165 

followers, who were, generally speaking, a 
needy, profligate, audacious crew; prepared for 
everything that was desperate." — Att. VII, 12; 
also Dio, B. XLIII, chap. 15. 



CJESAR AND CICERO HAVE BEEN COMPARED 

Following is what Trollope has to say of this 
pair: ^' There are men whose intellects are set 
on so fine a pivot that a variation of the breeze 
of the moment, which coarser minds shall not 
feel, will carry them around with a rapidity 
which baffles the common eye. The man who 
saw his duty clearly on this side in the morning 
shall, before the evening come, recognize it on 
the other; and thus again, and again, and yet 
again, the vane will go around. It may be that 
an instrument shall be too fine for our daily 
uses. We do not want a clock to strike the min- 
utes, or a glass to tell the momentary changes 
in the atmosphere. It may be found that for 
the work of the world, the coarse work — and 
no work is so course, though none is so impor- 
tant, as that which falls commonly into the 
hands of statesmen — instruments strong in tex- 
ture, and by reason of their rudeness not liable 
to sudden impressions, may be the best. That 
it is which we mean when we declare that a scru- 
pulous man is impracticable in politics.'' — Trol- 
lope, ''Cicero,'' Vol. I, Introduction, p. 22. 

P. 104: "With Ciiesar his debts have been ac- 
counted happy audacity; his pillage of Gaul and 
Spain, and of Eome also, has indicated only 



166 CcBsar's Character 

the success of the great general; his cruelty, 
which, in cold-blooded efficiency, has equaled, if 
not exceeded, the bloodthirstiness of any other 
tyrant, has been called clemency.^ 

^'I do not mean to draw a parallel between 
Caesar and Cicero. No two men could have been 
more different in their natures or in their ca- 
reers. But the one has been lauded because he 
was unscrupulous, and the other has incurred 
reproach because, at every turn and twist in his 
life, scruples dominated him.'^ 

Of these two Middleton says the following: 
** Among the celebrated names of antiquity 
those of the great generals and conquerors at- 
tract our admiration always the most, and im- 
print a notion of magnanimity, and power, and 
capacity for dominion superior to that of other 
mortals. We look upon such as destined by 
heaven for empire, and born to trample upon 
their fellow-creatures ; without reflecting on the 
numerous evils which are necessary to the ac- 
quisition of a glory that is built upon the sub- 
version of nations and the destruction of the 
human species. Yet these are the only persons 
who are thought to shine in history, or to merit 
the attention of the reader; dazzled with the 
splendor of their victories, and the pomp of 
their triumphs, we consider them as the pride 
and ornament of the Roman name; while the 

^Trollope backs up this statement by reminding the read- 
er of Caesar's wanton slaughter of the inhabitants of Gaul. 
But any person who wishes to treat this matter in a fair- 
minded manner does not need examples. Csesar's life was 
full of this thing. 



Some Companions 167 

pacific and civil character, though of all others 
the most beneficial to mankind, whose sole am- 
bition is to support the laws, the rights and lib- 
erties of his citizens, is looked upon as humble 
and contemptible on the comparison for being 
forced to truckle to the power of these oppres- 
sors of their country. ' ^ 

Long compares Caesar and Washington in the 
following passage: 

''Decline of the Roman Republic," p. 466 
(note) : "Washington, who established and ad- 
ministered honestly a new government, was far 
inferior as a general to Caesar, who only lived 
long enough to destroy an old constitution. As 
a man the American was hnmeasurahly superior 
to the Roman, whose career may be better com- 
pared to that of the first Napoleon. ' ' 

Napoleon's character was not only almost 
identical with that of Caesar, but the circum- 
stances under which they were born and lived 
were much the same. The lives of the two, there- 
fore, have many similarities. Channing, in his 
essay on Napoleon, which might as well have 
been entitled "Caesar," points out his lack of 
moral sense, his desire to ' ' claim a monopoly in 
perfidy and violence," and doubts "whether his- 
tory furnishes so striking an example of the 
moral blindness and obduracy to which an un- 
bounded egotism exposes and abandons the 
mind." And he winds up the essay with a pas- 
sage stating that, this character being "over- 
bearing and all-grasping, he spread distrust, 
exasperation, fear and revenge throughout Eu- 



168 C Cesar's Character 

rope ; and when the day of retribution came the 
old antipathies and mutual jealousies of nations 
were swallowed up in one burning purpose to 
prostrate the common tyrant, the universal 
foe." As the countries of Europe combined 
against Napoleon, so the people of Rome com- 
bined against Caesar. 

Following is a passage from Lamartine with 
the words " Caesar '^ and ''Eome" in brackets to 
be substituted for "Napoleon" and ''France": 

" . . . Napoleon's [Caesar's] fame, which 
constituted his morality, his conscience, and his 
principles, he merited, by his nature and his tal- 
ents, from war and from glory ; and he has cov- 
ered with it the name of France [Rome]. 
France [Rome], obliged to accept the odium of 
his tyranny and his crimes, should also accept 
his glory with a serious gratitude. She cannot 
separate her name from his without lessening 
it ; for it is equally incrusted with his greatness 
as with his faults. She wished for renown; and 
what she principally owes to him is the celebrity 
she has gained in the world. This celebrity, 
which will descend to posterity, and which is 
improperly called glory, constituted his means 
and his end. Let him, therefore, enjoy it. The 
noise he has made will resound through distant 
ages ; but let it not pei^vert posterity, or falsify 
the judgment of manJcind. He is admired as a 
soldier; he is measured as a sovereign; he is 
judged as a founder of nations; — great in ac- 
tioUj little in ideas — nothing in virtue. Such is 
the man! '^ 



Some Companions 169 

ALEXANDEIi AND C^SAR 

Montaigne, who knew the merits and defects 
of these two men, stated his preference for 
Alexander in the following terms : 

"Essays," p. 375: "But though Caesar's am- 
bition had been more moderate, it would still be 
so unhappy, having the ruin of his country and 
the universal mischief to the tvorld for its abom- 
inable object, that, all things collected together 
and put into a balance, I must needs incline to 
Alexander's side." Many writers have com- 
pared these two characters, but we will not com- 
pare them as generals, and as 7nen it would be 
like comparing a thistle to a rose. 

If a man goes to a place, after his death, suit- 
able to the life he has lived on earth, as we are 
told; then, you admirers of Caesar, will you 
praise and exalt an inhabitant of hell! You 
surely would not exalt Satan and condemn God ! 
But if some of you will do so, then our opinion 
of the character and nature of such is already 
formed, and in it your view of the standard of 
mankind is not regarded. 

We take it for granted, dear reader, that you 
are not one of these. Therefore, taking you 
into our confidence, we wish to explain that the 
standard of mankind — what a man shall be^ — 
must be maintained. And to exalt a character 
that stands for the lowest type of man is a 
thing to be condemned. The Bible speaks of 
such characters as Caesar when it says : ' ' Many 
that are first shall be last." And again: "Do 



170 CcBsar^s Character 

not glory in men.'' If all men were patterned 
after Cato, Catullus and Cicero those passages 
would not be so necessary. 

Caesar must be condemned and displaced to 
put a better and different tj^e of man in his 
place, for the two are wholly different in their 
lives, characters and eifect upon men. It is not 
the intention of the writer to make an elaborate 
comparison of the characters of Caesar and 
Christ. But it is his duty, in the nature of his 
work, to point out that the one is the great 
enemy of mankind, the other its great benefac- 
tor. The one, exerting a depressing influence 
upon humanity of enormous magnitude, the oth- 
er enlightening and uplifting where the other 
depresses. The one striving to benefit himself 
to the detriment of the world, the other succeed- 
ing in benefiting mankind by sacrificing his own 
life. 

Christ, in short, is the model for which man- 
kind shall strive, not Julius Caesar, for the lat- 
ter resembles the former as hell does heaven. 
No man understanding the life and characters 
of the two men can look upon the life of Caesar 
with admiration and look upon the character of 
Christ without duplicity and inward hate. 

The great men of this world are divided into 
two classes. The one sheds a white light upon 
mankind, the other a red light; the one is up- 
lifting, the other depressing; the first encour- 
aging, the second detrimental ; the one helpful, 
the other dangerous. 

If we were to say that Cato, Socrates, Cicero, 



Some Companions 171 

etc., were the first men of this world, and Caesar, 
Napoleon, Louis XIV the worst men, what would 
the world say! Yet that is their proper order. 
The former devoted their lives and made all 
their aims subordinate to the working of a good 
end ; the latter made all their abilities and gen- 
ius subordinate to evil purposes and purely 
personal designs. Therefore they are in the or- 
der we have given them. Have we explained, 
then, the passage in Scripture, ' ' Many that are 
first shall be last ''I 

Aside from the fact that there will always be 
thistles, burrs and weeds in the human race, 
who will uphold this ij^Q of men, there is a 
law of the universe which says that evil men 
shall he upheld, praised and harbored by the 
ivorM, for this is the only place where that is 
done and this the only praise they receive. How- 
ever, although this type of men shall be har- 
bored by the world (evil men) they shall not 
set up a thistle where a lily belongs, and induce 
men to follow it. 

Men of this world, the good in particular, 
your lives and characters in the present age, 
posterity, and, lastly, the upward or downward 
trend of humanity, depend upon the upholding 
of this standard. 

We do not ask mankind to do what they are 
unable to do when we ask them to distinguish 
between the two classes of first men^ (the few 

^The whole of humanity is, of course, included, but we re- 
strict ourselves to the first men of the world, because the 
masses look upon them as their models and leaders. 



172 Ccesar^s Character 

that are actually first and the many that are 
not so), for if we do ask too much, how is it 
that there have always been and always will be 
some who can distinguish between the two! So 
long as the human race exists, this man shall 
be held in condemnation by the better part of 
mankind, and all the evil on earth shall not 
sustain him nor the type of men he represents. 
No guile can cover and no force thwart or pre- 
vent this. 

As the character of this type of men dealt 
with has been explained, and their failure made 
manifest, and as the cause of the latter will be 
explained by the lack of a faculty, it is proper 
to speak here of one or two prominent facul- 
ties in this type of men, and tell what to do 
with them. 

This world is just as man makes it. This is 
proved by its difference in different places and 
times. The evil of the world is derived from 
the evil nature in man. 

As for the plea that nature makes man be- 
forehand what he shall be — this would make 
man be born for hell or heaven as nature made 
him, for man obeys his natural faculties and 
traits. The author by no means agrees with 
this, but has this belief, namely, that man be- 
fore birth is responsible for the qualities born 
in him, the qualities not being contrary to what 
he desired. For if this is not true, how is it 
that man quite readily takes the responsibility 
of his nature upon himself and would not part 



Some Companions 173 

with his given faculties and traits for anything 
under the sun? 

But, to come more directly to the type of men 
dealt with, let none say that they have not faith 
and hope; they have, but it is in evil, wicked- 
ness, guile, malignity and bitterness, and let 
none doubt its strength. Some have said that 
they have no standard of right; that is a mis- 
take. They have, but it is actually turned up- 
side down, for they must see things as right 
from their point of view and what is opposite 
to it as wrong. Their real thoughts, inten- 
tions and purposes are never manifested open- 
ly. ^'They never,'' in their own language, 
^'mean anything they say." To such absurd 
lengths is this characteristic of not dealing with 
real matters carried that they never accuse an 
enemy of actual defects and mistakes, however 
manifest they are, but try to establish false 
ones created by themselves. 

This type of men must have a personal pur- 
pose before their genius awakens, for the for- 
mer causes the life, if not the birth, of the lat- 
ter, and without the one the other would not 
exist. The intensity with which these personal 
motives are backed is terrific. There is noth- 
ing equal to them, and they can only be handled 
by not allowing men of these tendencies to con- 
centrate power. 

The evil (which includes that type of men), 
even more than the good, are bound quite tightly 
by the laws of nature, and look upon the latter 
as something to which they owe obligation. 



174 C Cesar's Character 

Man is a personal being. Aside from the 
number of autobiographies written, many of 
the great works have been accounts (in part) 
of the author's life. Man judges things as it 
impresses him for good or evil, and man likes 
or dislikes a work as it satisfies his own inner 
being, and it is for this latter that he can make 
the hardest fight he is capable of making. This 
latter phase of man's nature is brought out 
most clearly by the type of men dealt with, 
for it is in striving for this that they spend 
their lives. 

We have no thought of eliminating the evil; 
a strange feeling comes over the author when 
he sees this written, for the print is there with- 
out the thought. The author, in boyhood, when 
he was more of an idealist than he afterward 
learned it was wise to be, often asked: '^Why 
is it that great men who have great merits and 
serious defects could not, by studying them- 
selves, correct and eliminate these defects so 
that then their merits would be without hin- 
drance and their lives would be all merit?" 
But later in life, when he saw more of the 
world, analyzed these same men and observed 
the laws and workings of human nature, he 
learned, against his wish, but in a positive 
fashion, that the weakness and failings of men 
are necessary, that merit sometimes grows out 
of defects and that the only men without de- 
fects are dead men. Vice and evil seem to be a 
necessity to human life, for they cannot be got 
rid of, and, if suppressed, in many cases, when 



Some Companions 175 

given vent, burst forth with redoubled fury. 
Just as the good cannot be entirely got rid pf, 
neither can the evil, for the two, great enemies 
though they be, are close companions. 

As long as self-love exists, this type of men 
shall be upheld, for it is the type, not the man, 
that has followers ! We, therefore, cannot 
promise that this type can be eliminated from 
the human race ; they can be subdued, not elimi- 
nated. The Great Book speaks of a millennium. 
In that time this type of men shall vanish from 
the earth. But ere that time the only way this 
type of men can be checked and handled is by 
not allowing them to concentrate power, for the 
good of mankind, as a whole, to assert them- 
selves, and, as individuals, to get into power, 
and remember, at all times, that the best method 
of defense is to be on the aggressive. 

These natures cannot be turned; they must 
run their course, but their main faculties can 
be mollified, and by not allowing them to con- 
centrate power in themselves such harm that 
they are capable of can be prevented. If all of 
what the world calls its great men were of this 
type, in less than five hundred years the human 

race would go to h 1, and if all of its first 

men were of the opposite type mankind would 
be steadily uplifted, and there would be no hin- 
drance. Both cases are, of course, suppositions, 
and are only used to show the effect of the two 
types. Both types exist, and it is they that con- 
trol the human race, and, verily, children of this 
earth, just as the one or the other predominates 



176 C Cesar's Character 

in power and influence just that mucli will the 
upward or downward trend of humanity be ef- 
fected. 

Men are concerned to know from whence the 
evil of earth comes. It comes largely from 
within this type of man. No being who comes 
after, though he be Christ himself, will disprove 
this statement. Therefore, since so much evil 
arises from man, it is within man to lessen, 
and, in places, to subdue it ; and unless he does 
so it is fruitless to ask assistance from that 
place called heaven and that being named God. 



IMPORTANCE OF THE MORAL SENSE 

With apologies to the world. 
THE ARGUMENT 

Part I. — The author's theme deals not with 
minor subjects. Our theme conflicts with the 
great men of the world, but we explain and pro- 
ceed. Mentally and morally insane people. 
Man's life and character decided by the gen- 
eral trend of his life. Passion, reason, and the 
moral sense. The great qualities of the human 
mind. The four types of great men of the hu- 
man race. A comment on systems, co-opera- 
tions, and institutions. A comment on the lack 
of genius in the present age. Genius produces 
the monarchs of the human race. 

Part II. — The human mind compared to a 
circle. The good and the bad closely related. 
^^ There is no God." Science and religion. A 
few reflections upon the traits of evil men. A 
way of telling the real nature of men. A mor- 
alist should not be too high. The source of the 
writer's knowledge of human nature and char- 
acter. 



PARTI 

Our theme deals not with man's creation, but 
his preservation! Not with the world's forma- 

177 



178 CcBsar's Character 

tion, but its sustentation. The author is aware 
there are men who are more likely to crush our 
statements than to consider them, and the last 
thing they are likely to do is to doubt them. 
But, after stating that we fear them not, we 
will remind them that there have been men who 
have refused to be crushed. The author consid- 
ers he deals with too great a matter to be 
shoved aside. We say it without timidity or 
backwardness that we deal with a great prin- 
ciple, and are, to our knowledge, the first to set 
it forth, and certainly the first to explain it. 
The most exalted genius of the world from 
Homer and Shakespeare down must bow to this 
principle.^ 

There has always been an unwritten motto 
among evil men all over the world. We refer to 
the ''upper ones"; it is this: ''Don't be de- 
ceived; see that you know things, but keep your 
tongue quiet." We welcome both ends of this 
motto, and turn it to its proper course, thus: 
see that you know things all right, and then 
don't keep your tongue quiet. Which corrected 
motto we back up with our own : " If thy cause 
be just, and thou art sure of it, go forward and 
fear nothing." 

The moral sense is, after all, the most im- 
portant and is what makes the man and at- 
tracts the followers, according to whether their 
moral sense is good or bad. Life and character 

^The author does not mean that the moral nature is nec- 
essarily the most important, but that it must be considered 
in judging a man. 



Importance of the Moral Sense 179 

— the point we wish to set forth — is decided by 
the moral nature. It, therefore, becomes the 
only thing that embraces all humanity, and is 
the basis by which we are to judge men. The 
world, we know, mil exclaim: "Why, then, 
many of our great men are the worst!" But 
those "many men" will not induce us to lower 
the standard of virtue, honesty and sincerity, 
for it is that which supports the standard of 
mankind. That expression that "one cannot 
think right unless one lives right," means that 
one's mental life is based upon one's moral life, 
for the moral nature of man, however indirect- 
ly or unconsciously, is the source of his thought. 
The moral nature is the basis of all religion, be- 
cause the former creates the latter, and with- 
out the former the latter would not exist. 

It is the moral nature that men lack and 
which should be nurtured. The moral sense is 
not necessarily innate; it can be encouraged, 
nurtured and developed, and one can do noth- 
ing better than to do so. The world is best 
reached by passion, and most of the world's 
great works are characterized by that quality; 
if reached by reason it is better, but by the 
moral sense divine. 

People are accustomed to belittle and look 
down upon insane persons. Surely, it is not a 
good thing, but let them know that many of 
them are in a worse condition themselves, for 
a bad man, a man whose life is directed down- 
ward, is morally insane. Just as it is true that 
to be without reason is like being without a 



180 CcBsar's Character 

home; just as surely is it true that to be with- 
out the moral sense is to be devoid of character. 

The lower order of men often complain 
that the moralists do not sufficiently take into 
account the weaknesses of human nature. But 
to that pleading let us make the decisive answer 
that the moralist is far more likely to take into 
account the weaknesses of man and overlook 
his failings than they are to overlook his men- 
tioning of and attempting to correct those weak- 
nesses. The defects and mistakes in a man's 
life are of little importance. The general trend 
of a man's life and character is decisive; it 
decides what effect his life and character shall 
have upon the world and what kind of life he 
is to continue. All moralists, in their judgment 
of men^ take this into account. 

But to come more directly to our subject. 
What the world likes is action; action first, ac- 
tion second, action third; thought comes in 
about the middle, and the principle of right and 
wrong comes in sometimes at the tail-end, some- 
times not at all. A military genius attracts the 
world's attention more readily than a genius 
in literature. Men of action are said to be men 
of strong passions; it should be said that men 
of strong passions are men of action, for the 
former is the cause of the latter. Action and 
passion, we repeat, are closely related, for the 
one is the outcome of the other. It must here 
be recalled what the author has said elsewhere 
of the three great qualities of the human mind 
— passion, reason and the moral sense. 



Importance of the Moral Sense 181 

The types of great men that are produced 
from the human race are four in number, and 
are as follows : Firstly, the moralists ; secondly, 
the philosophers; thirdly, that form of genius, 
when combined with the moral sense, which de- 
velops poetry and the higher arts; men of ac- 
tion, although their immediate deeds are great- 
er, are last. To tliis last class belongs Julius 
Caesar. The thing that causes this classification 
is that the work of the first three classes is up- 
lifting to humanity, whereas, in the fourth class, 
there must be desolation, misery and destruc- 
tion in the human race for it to thrive. 

Let no writer say that the author makes this 
classification by Christian principles, and it is, 
therefore, unfair to those who came before. He 
makes it by the, principle of right and wrong, 
a principle that existed and was observed from 
the beginning of man. 

Systems — and the present age is not singular 
in this respect — make machines out of men. The 
atmosphere of the present day has the feeling 
of a continual grind, and the monotony is sick- 
ening. Yet, do men like this grind? Oh, yes, 
men like this grind very much. What causes 
this grind? The speed of the world, the cus- 
toms, systems and rules to which men bind 
themselves. Does this grind ever cease? No, 
this grind does not cease with earthly exist- 
ence, for men love it so well that, if possible, 
they would make it of so heavy and yet so fast 
a nature that it would burn them up! And are 
there no remedies for this grind, this monotony 



182 Ccesar's Character 

of existence? Yes, there are remedies for it, 
but men will not listen to them. For men do not 
see that it is the exceptions and special events 
of human life that bring out the best that is in 
man ! Do not see that man is what he is by his 
individuality. Likewise they seem not to know 
that man has many qualities and traits that lie 
dormant until special circumstances call them 
forth. This is the special law where mankind's 
great capacities lie, but the point of this mat- 
ter summed up in a few words is that, through 
the use of these systems and the making man 
subordinate to institutions, not only makes men 
little better than machines, but gets them to for- 
get that they have qualities of the human race. 
The main defense of the use of co-operation and 
institutions is to sacrifice the individual to the 
whole. That would be very well if this '^ whole'' 
were a purpose, not an institution, which per- 
ishes as soon as customs and ideas change. 

Men to-day do not cultivate the character and 
develop as individuals; as a result, men to-day 
as individuals are almost an unknown thing, 
but, combining, each contributes his mite to that 
bugaboo — '^ co-operation." Man, they say, is 
little; his work lasts and the result of his ef- 
fort lives, but the man dies and is gone. They 
are mistaken; the ivork perishes, but the man 
is imperishable. The ancients, more than any 
other age, saw that the thing of most impor- 
tance was the cultivation of character and the 
development of men as individuals ; as a result 
the world's greatest men are found among the 



Importance of the Moral Sense 183 

ancients. For do not institutions pass away as 
customs and opinions change'? And are not 
great men the salt of the nations which give 
them nutriment? 

The present age, we repeat, does not develop 
men, but institutions whicli die in a few years. 
Man is made subordinate to these perishable 
institutions, the work being the end of their ef- 
forts and the man the means of attaining it. 
Therefore, as the work is perishable and the 
man is made the means of obtaining that work, 
all is perishable. The system of ''Symmetrical 
Development" in use to-day that is supposed to 
develop everything, really develops nothing. 
The man of mediocre degree, with his foolish 
method of developing in all directions, which 
pulls down much, but builds up nothing, suc- 
ceeds in being developed in none. And, in or- 
der that the purpose of their system can be at- 
tained — all men being on a level — they are com- 
pelled to depreciate the talent and minimize the 
abilities of men of merit. The constant theme 
of liigh-school teachers and college professors, 
in their aim for what they designate as the 
"Symmetrical Development," is the victory of 
the blockhead over the genius; presuming, we 
suppose, that there is some hope for themselves. 
They are not aware that mediocrity does not 
accomplish works of perpetuity, whereas genius 
does; not aware that mediocrity accomplishes 
nothing, genius everything. Are not the valleys 
and the hills, the rivers and the mountains more 
beautiful and of more interest than endless 



184 C Cesar's Character 

plains, plains, plains ? So it is with genius and 
mediocrity, and this is the best comparison na- 
ture affords. Men of the present age do not see 
these matters, but, as men usually see their mis- 
takes sooner or later, let us hope this is a case 
that will not be many generations postponed. 

Scientists tell us that there is a thin partition 
between insanity and genius, that the latter is 
accompanied by nervous disorders and peculi- 
arities. But of genius itself, even the most 
painstaking and minute of scientists say that 
the inspiration of genius, which the latter con- 
sider their all, their very soul, is nothing more 
than an intensely heated imagination. But how 
can these scientists, whose souls have never 
been touched by the torch of inspiration, which 
causes men to write and speak not their own 
thought, but to interpret the thought of the in- 
ner man, how can these scientists be in a posi- 
tion to speak of things they do not understand I 
Many admit they do not understand it. To that 
it must be answered that they would do better 
not to attempt to explain matters they do not 
comprehend, rather than make a mess of it. 

It should further be remembered that the 
scientists get their information second-hand at 
that. No scientist, with all his investigations, 
explanations and experiments, can understand 
genius like genius can. The reason the scien- 
tists fall short on this subject is because they 
describe beautifully the companions of genius. 
But has ever one of them told us what genius 
itself is! Has the inspiration of genius ever 



Importance of the Moral Sense 185 

been satisfactorily explained, has the divine 
enthusiasm that overcomes all obstacles, that 
is the outcome of the inspiration, ever been 
analyzed and described to the world! Have 
those moments when the sharpened senses are 
at their highest pitch, when they can discern 
and comprehend matters that are not disclosed 
to ordinary mortals — has science revealed those 
moments to mankind ? No, dear reader, she has 
not, and she never ivill. If it be possible that 
those almost divine moments can be revealed 
to mankind it can be done by genius alone. 

It is a common opinion that men of genius 
are devoid of common sense. That is a mistake. 
Men of genius have reason and logic at all times 
except in moments of inspiration, when they are 
controlled by an inner spirit rather than their 
own mind. At other times they are to be judged 
as other men, some of whom have more reason 
than others, while others are more imaginative.^ 

Certain senses and faculties become sharp- 
ened, in these men, to an exceptional degree, so 
that their possessor can distinguish matters 
that are imperceptible to other beings of the 
human race. When a man of this type is al- 
lowed to follow his bent he usually reaches a 
certain point where he will be satisfied ; he will 
then turn his attention in another direction and 
develop that to a height that no man of medi- 
ocre degree could attain. Being appeased in 
that direction, he will turn his ability into an- 

^Philosophers are a class of genius, and yet what set of 
men possess more logic? 



186 G Cesar's Character 

other channel and develop it as near perfection 
as his ability will permit. That is why men of 
genius are frequently spoken of as being "ex- 
ceptionally developed along many lines. ' ' 

Genius is usually not in sympathy with the 
times, customs, prevailing systems, institutions, 
business or politics. Nor does it deal with im- 
mediate affairs, and when it does it is because 
it sees what is beyond the immediate. 

It seems that, in certain forms of genius, Na- 
ture intentionally took away the moral sense, so 
that they might the better perceive the laws of 
Nature through the intellect. 

Genius sees in things what others do not see. 
They do not see things as others do, but see 
more deeply and acutely. They are differently 
impressed with men and affairs than others. 

Men having the quality of genius feel they 
are confined and restrained, and wish to push 
things out to make room; this is the cause of 
their frequently being of wild, wandering, irreg- 
ular habits. The fact that they feel and believe 
powers within them makes them discontented 
and dissatisfied ; opportunity and a special pur- 
jDOse upon which to set their morbid qualities is 
the only thing that will satisfy them. 

The genius in a man is the inner life, and is 
the source of his enthusiasm, but which, if al- 
lowed to usurp full control, will wear out the 
body prematurely, for the man is the tool of 
the genius?- It is the author's opinion that only 

^The same principle applies to the soul and the body, 
some men making the one subordinate, some the other. 



Importance of the Moral Sense 187 

the exalted element of genius should be made 
known to the common people, whereas only 
scientists, physicians and such men (and they 
should keep it strictly to themselves) should be 
made acquainted with their melancholy and de- 
pression. There are truths that should either 
not be revealed or which must be very carefully 
disclosed, for men misinterpret many truths 
and use them to the detriment of all mankind. 

But back tO' our main subject. Although we 
earnestly desire that men see these things we 
have spoken of, and do not throw hindrances 
in the way of these monarchs of the human 
race, existing in their time, and do not develop 
systems and institutions to crush out the weak- 
er ones, yet it is our duty in the nature of our 
subject to explain that the moral sense is su- 
perior to genius. Do we say that the moral 
sense makes man superior to the greatest gen- 
iuses the world has produced? If we do, the 
world cannot disprove it; and if she uses that 
mighty wall (history) to do it, it will fall upon 
and crush herself. If these things be not so, 
how is it that the great moral works of the 
world, not only the teachings of Christ, but of 
the moralists before and after Him, how is it 
that they have been upheld above the world's 
greatest men of genius, above Dante, above 
Shakespere, above Milton, Virgil? The reason, 
dear reader, is that in the heart of the human 
being is a spot which cherishes and preserves 
the truth and the good, and this is rated before 
all ability. 



188 Ccesar^s Character 

PART II 

Some men have observed that genius and 
idiocy are closely allied; that there is but a 
step from the sublime to the ridiculous; that 
the good and the bad, great enemies though 
they be, are close companions; that the most 
powerful men are often the farthest from God. 
This looks like the hand of our Creator draw- 
ing men together. Surely this bringing all men 
together is a wise thing, but men will hardly 
give credit to the principle until they under- 
stand the construction of the human mind. 

The human mind can well be compared to a 
circle which, if ascended on the right hand by 
means of natural inclination, individual devel- 
opment and education, arrives at genius (the 
summit), but, a step over, it leads to insanity, 
madness and idiocy; if ascended on the left 
hand by ignorance, lack of training and evil en- 
vironments it arrives at crime, idiocy and even 
insanity. 

One might ask: ^'If you go far enough, then, 
you will arrive at genius ! ' ' That is correct, for 
criminals, idiots and the insane have shown 
genius. Thus it is that the highest and lowest 
endowments of the human mind have been 
found together within the same person. 

Thus it is that no man is to be despised, for 
the worst-looking men have, sometimes, the 
greatest powers. The clown is often the most 
clever, and the foolish-looking fellow the most 
brilliant. No man is to be despised, for each 



Importance of the Moral Sense 189 

has his element and the powers therein. There 
has never been a bad thing under sun that has 
not had something good in it. The good and 
the bad are always together, the sublime and 
the ridiculous are closely related; genius and 
idiocy, the highest and the lowest manifesta- 
tions of mankind, stand side by side. When we 
see these things, we understand that men are 
not so far apart after all! 

It seems that the Creator has intended it thus, 
for it is certainly a binding link that holds all 
men together. Another observation of the au- 
thor along the same line is the following : 

It might seem strange, upon first glance, to 
observe that most (at least a great many) great 
men have been bad men, thinking that they do 
not deserve to be such. But that is in accord- 
ance with the plan of God; He gives to ev- 
ery man something. Many living a bad life, 
and thus having a life of destruction before 
them in their future existence, receive from 
Him the pleasures, glories and, in many cases, 
the life of this world — fame. This is what He 
means when He says : ' ' Many that are first shall 
be last.^'^ And again: ^'Do not envy them what 
they get.''^ 

God, as has been said, gives something to all. 
He is ever ready to forgive, and often gives af- 
ter one is no longer deserving of receiving. 
There are probably fewer men who succeed 
both in this world and in the world above than 

^Luke xiii, 30. Matt, xix, 30. 
-Proverbs xiv. 



190 CcBsar's Character 

there are men who make an honest failure both 
on earth and in heaven. 

It is not out of place in the nature of our 
subject to speak of the doubts and, to some men, 
proofs of a Creator. As the human nervous 
system is susceptible to very few of the im- 
pulses that actually exist, so the human mind 
can see only those things that are within its 
own limited sphere. Many men claim that 
things can only exist that they see and feel with 
their present senses. But to that statement we 
have but to ask the question. Because a man is 
blind and cannot see the sky, does that mean 
that the sky does not exist I But we will try to 
confine ourselves to what men can see with their 
physical senses. ^'God and heaven," some men 
say, ''as Milton and Dante describe them, are 
unattractive." It seems strange that Milton 
and Dante should have failed in their purpose! 
But the cancer, let it be known, that caused this 
blindness lies not in Milton nor in the way his 
work was set forth, but was an internal disease 
with those that saw it, as explained. There are 
many people nowadays who put their trust in a 
so-called ''Higher Criticism" and "Scientific 
Investigations" and who claim to have "new 
ideas" and to be "up to date"; thinking, we in- 
fer, that the Bible is old-fashioned and not good 
enough. 

But their real reason is not that they are 
wishing to develop science, but that they are 
trying to get away from the Bible and its teach- 
ings — something that man has been trying to 



Importance of the Morat Sense 191 

do from the beginning of time; but they will 
never succeed, and their ''Higher Criticism" 
and ''Scientific Investigations" will not amount 
to a rap until they coincide with the Great 
Book. 

Science is of material benefit in the prog- 
ress of mankind, but when she comes to that 
point where she conflicts and attempts to over- 
throw religion, when she claims that this world 
and all belonging to it is the work of "Nature," 
and that there is no Almighty, then let her know 
that she has gone too far, and it is time to stop 
and mend her ways. The Bible is full of good 
advice, but which the world stamps as "im- 
practical," because it, in its distorted condition, 
cannot follow the advice.^ 

Is it humorous or is it serious to note that 
men embrace and consider religious and moral 
views best (and often solely) in childhood, 
when ill and in old age? Yet this is true. Those 
who do not believe in an after-life cannot an- 
swer the following question in the negative, 
simple and all-embracing as it is : It is not be- 
yond anyone to see that they who do wrong of- 
ten have material prosperity; is it not reason- 
able that they who do right will have prosperity 
of a higher quality ? Or the question in another 
form is. If bad men who continually do wrong 

^The writer does not mean that everything in the Bible is 
to be followed. For instance, the sundry laws given to the 
people of two thousand years ago would not apply to people 
of to-day. But human nature is fundamentally the same 
and, as a guide to mankind, there is no work equal to the 
Great Book. 



192 C Cesar's Character 

get so many so-called ^'good things" on earth, 
is it not reasonable that good men who refrain 
from them will receive greater rewards? 

Can mankind have a better proof of the exist- 
ence of a Creator than the fact that mankind, 
from the earliest time, having a thirst for a 
superior Being, should reflect forth from their 
own inner beings "Happy Hunting-grounds'' 
and create gods, having heard of no such things 
before f Thus it has been with all heathen and 
ancient races. 

"Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutor'd mind 
Sees God in the cloud, or hears him in the 

wind; 
His sou] proud Science never taught to stray 
Far as the solar walk or milky way. 
Yet simple nature to his hopes has giv'n, 
Behind the cloud-topt hill, an humbler 

Heaven. ' '^ 



There are general laws that rule not only 
men's affairs, but the universe, and one need 
not be divine to perceive this, for human be- 
ings can observe it. Then, does it not follow 
that these general laws are gathered into the 
hand of a Superior Being ! " It is Nature, ' ' men 
try to explain, but what gives Nature its sys- 
tem and order but a Hand above it that moulds 
and makes it what it is? 

^Pope — "Essay on Man." 



Importance of the Moral Sense 193 

Clough, after speaking of those persons who 
say there is no God, continues thus : 

^'But country-folks who live beneath 

The shadow of the steeple, 
The parson and the parson's wife, 

And mostly married people; 
Youths green and happy in first love, 

So thankful for illusion, 
And men caught out in what the world 

Calls guilt, in first confusion, 
And almost everyone, when age, 

Disease or sorrows strike him. 
Inclines to think there is a God 

Or something very like Him. ' '^ 

When a man of good intentions points out the 
errors and weaknesses of human life just as he 
finds them he is called a pessimist. But he is 
not justly called so. All evil men who only see 
the bad side of life say : ^ ' We live a miserable 
life in this world, and then a worse one in the 
world to come. ' ' Those are the real pessimists. 
But how often is this thing, simple as it is, 
stated correctly? 

Evil men look upon people and everything in 
the world with an evil eye; the only good they 
see in the world is personal gain and transitory 
pleasure. Good men are looked upon by their 
bad cousins as something soft, easy, submissive 
and unself-assertive and, on the other hand, 
devoid of force, resistance and self-assertive- 
ness; but they fail to see that the former tend 

K^lough— "There Is No God." 



194 CcBsar's Character 

toward the godlike qualities, while the latter 
are those of the animal. Tliis does not mean 
that good men have not" the latter qualities, for 
when a truly good man is thoroughly aroused, 
so that the animal spirits get the upper hand, 
the world cannot put him down. 

One of the worst facts in connection with 
these miserable creatures (the evil type spoken 
of) is that they understand only bad characters, 
and are not aware that good people live; they 
will not believe it if told such exist, and if they 
see one for themselves they cannot comprehend 
him. 

Men frequently boast of certain intellectual 
benefits that sometimes accompany an evil life; 
whether they prove to be actually good in the 
end, we will not discuss ; but, for the sake of the 
argmnent, we will grant it as such. The point is 
this, however: they did not see or experience 
these intellectual benefits until after they had 
partaken of an evil life! 

Bad men at first go into an evil life being 
told that ''they will learn a great many things 
they don't know," and that there are many 
"good things" that they ought to taste. Later 
on, when these men see they cannot get out of 
the trap into which they have fallen, and be- 
come wretched in consequence, they desire their 
friends and acquaintances to share their 
misery. 

Bad men must have what is bad, and are dis- 
contented and restless without it. As a user of 
morphine, upon first taking it, takes small 



Importance of the Moral Sense 195 

doses, then increases and increases the dose un- 
til finally the size of the dose he takes at one 
time is sufficient to kill three men not habitu- 
ated to its use^ — yet he has got to have it, ap- 
parently, for his very existence. Thus it is 
with every bad man that has existed. He dis- 
torts his nature into wrong directions, and then 
''has got to have it." 

Men that have developed and contracted bad 
habits and traits, if made to give them up, are 
all out of sorts, and can do nothing satisfac- 
torily ; they give the appearance that their very 
existence depends upon these wicked desires, 
and it does seem so. When these nefarious 
traits extend to an ambition for power, to the 
detriment of the rights and liberties of others, 
it can he seen of tvhat enormous harm it is to 
both present and future mankind! 

The leaders of evil, the very worst of men, 
cannot turn from their evil ways. But they 
must not think that their very weakness is their 
victory; for, by keeping that part of mankind 
that waver on the side of the good, by overlook- 
ing and forgiving the faults of their followers, 
and by condemning them, we can make some big 
strides toward breaking up evil, and also keep 
them from taking aggressive steps and being 
active. Just as surely as these men prefer rea- 
son to the moral sentiments, just so surely do 
they prefer passion and confusion to reason! 
It is strange to observe how bad men at times 
praise mankind and defend humanity, while 
good men, at certain times, do the same thing! 



196 C Cesar's Character 

It is, as we say, strange until we come to exam- 
ine it, which is like turning a searchlight into a 
dark corner. Good men, when they praise man- 
kind, do it because they see the good in man, 
and, being able to perceive the better side of 
man, give it full credit, which serves to exalt 
the human race. On the other hand, when bad 
men praise mankind, it is invariably when they 
have control, and is done to put on a good face 
to things, so they can the better proceed se- 
cretly with their nefarious practices ! 

After seeing the truth of that ancient saying, 
^'The majority are wicked,^' it is sometimes dif- 
ficult, after condemning them, to extend one's 
help and s^mipathy toward that same majority. 
We hope, however, that we make it clear in this 
work that we have overcome this difficulty, for 
our plea is that the majority are not wicked of 
their own accord, but are induced by a com- 
paratively small minority to be so. Real bad 
men are decidedly in the minority ; but men that 
are controlled and influenced by those men are 
just as decisively in the majority. They are 
weaker than those solid, constant moral stars, 
and are to be pitied and encouraged rather than 
condemned. 

The inner life of most men is far worse than 
the world knows it to be; only their close 
friends and acquaintances know their real life. 
But the statement in itself counts for nothing. 
When any move is made in the world for good, 
when any moral movement is set in motion, it 
is usually resisted on all sides, and the men 



Importance of the Moral Sense 197 

that are trying to forward the movement ask, 
Whence comes this resistance? We thought the 
world wished to be bettered and have things 
improved, etc. But the question has already 
been answered, and will be repeated. It comes 
from the inner nature of men, that life that is 
usually hidden from the world, and by some is 
not known to exist, but which is the real nature. 

Observe whether a man displays his spirit in 
good or in evil and you hnoiv the man. Observe 
wherein a man's strength lies, whether in cheat- 
ing, deceiving, guile and force or in honesty, 
desire of fairness, openness of speech, and you 
know whether his life is going up or down. 
There are two ways by which to tell a man's 
real nature, namely: First, what he does; sec- 
ondly, what he tries hardest to give the appear- 
ance he is keeping away from. The infallible 
and conclusive test of a man's nature and char- 
acter is whether his spirit manifests itself in 
good or in evil deeds. He who shows the most 
spirit in evil is the worst man. 

So that we may not be called to account for a 
lack of humanity, we wish to make clear that it 
is not minor evils we condemn. But when vices 
and crimes affect the whole of hmnanity it is 
time they are condemned, so that mankind may 
know what is not right. Our condemnation falls 
upon the leaders of evil men ; if their followers 
are compelled to share the blame, it should be 
understood that tve do not require it. They 
have our encouragement to get away from these 
leaders in evil. 



198 CcBsar's Character 

As for tamanity, do we have it? The masses 
are always welcome, always encouraged, for 
they are deceived, and easily led; ignorance ra- 
ther than evil being their worse vice. The door, 
in short, is open to the human race, and alivays 
open, and all are welcome, but men will not al- 
ways find the way to the door, although open! 
For, although the drunken man's house remains 
in the same place, the drunken man, not being 
able to find it, does not think so. 

A moralist should not soar too high, as Plato, 
for instance, did, if he hopes to better the 
world, because the difference between his ideals 
and the practices of the world is too distant to 
be easily reconciled, just as the magnet which 
tries to pick up the bar at too great a distance 
will pick up nothing. 

If a moral standard must be had, let it be 
built on reason, not the moral sense; for, 
though the latter will do well for a few, the 
majority will not stand for it, for at all times 
must the humanity of man be remembered. 

If any readers should complain that the au- 
thor sets a standard of morals too high for hu- 
manity, he will reply that mankind can only he 
uplifted by a sufficiently high standard of mor- 
als, to which they ivill always return, often as 
they leave it} 

All men are ruled by a double tendency. The 
first is inborn and tends to do good; the sec- 
ond is acquired, is the worldly, and tends to do 

^In the Bible, the greatest of all books, the highest stand- 
ard of morals mankind has received are found. 



Importance of the Moral Sense 199 

bad.^ An analysis of men's lives, combined 
with observations from life, are the source of 
the author's knowledge of human nature and 
character, as displayed in this work and chap- 
ter. He does not speak merely from a knowl- 
edge of good men, for he has lived among the 
worst men, and is acquainted with the very 
worst of mankind, and has visited their abodes, 
knows their habits and characteristics, and un- 
derstands why they ''want" this and "don't 
want" that. 

nt there is a statement made by any writer or moralist 
that puts human nature on a fairer basis, or gives mankind 
a better chance to do good than the rule given, the writer 
is not acquainted with it. 



SOME DISJOINTED REFLECTIONS^ 

Me^ who write with the intention of benefit- 
ing mankind should not use veiled expressions ; 
it not only encourages men to search in corners 
and out-of-the-way places for an evil mean- 
ing, but enables them to construe the meaning 
if it does not suit them. It is well for an au- 
thor to define his terms and the words he uses 
in important matters. For instance, the word 
"man'^ can be stretched over a field from a 
being little better than a brute animal to a par- 
tially divine being; then there are several defi- 
nitions of a man that will come in between the 
two. Therefore, we repeat, it is always well, 
in important instances, for an author to define 
his expressions, otherwise it is like the two men 
in a debate who argued from different pre- 
mises. 

The author, in youth, was often puzzled to 
observe how men could commit the most abom- 
inable vices and yet retain fair exteriors. He 
often thought of it, until one day it struck him 
and he asked if men's appearances and forms 

'This chapter is a deliberate digression, put into the work 
intentionally, to relieve the strain of the work on the reader. 

200 



Some Disjointed Reflections 201 

corresponded with their atrocious vices, would 
we not have some horrible animals running 
about the world "J Worse than any that are now 
upon it? He answered in the affirmative, and 
since that time knows why men may commit 

horrible vices and yet retain fair exteriors. 

* * * 

There is one instance when you can't bribe 
an evil man, namely, to think over his own past 
life! 

The more man advances in civilization the 
more and more artificial he becomes. 

Trouble comes in many packages, and the 

packages usually come at one time. 

* * # 

Hope is the anchor of life; without it man is 

like a ship at sea in a gale. 

* * * 

It is good that one's forces be aroused, so 
that he knows where his abilities lie. 

Although reason is man's defense, he is best 
when away from it; in passion, excitement, or 
when one's forces are disturbed, man is at his 
best. 

Reason, that rubber-band of the human mind, 
is only a garb to cover the passions, instincts 
and institutions of man.^ 

^ And, in the case of religion, it may be added, the moral 
sense. 



202 CcBsar^s Character 

Ideas spring up, not out of reason, but in 
spite of it. Reason, unlike the stronger facul- 
ties of the human mind, is not accomplished by 
acute pain; pain is a stimulus. Reason is the 
most inaccurate faculty of the human mind, the 
greatest liar and the worst judge. 

The strongest faculties of the human mind 
will have nothing to do with reason. 

In all great matters, does not reason break 
down and give way to other faculties? Is this 

a sign of strength on the part of that faculty? 

* * * 

The human mind is not like a ladder, but like 
a circle — the best and the worst faculties being 
side by side. This looks like it is pessimistic, 
but it is not; for what other plan (of the human 

mind) would give every one a chance? 

* ♦ * 

In judging a thing, everything depends upon 
the faculty the thing is judged from. The orig- 
inal nature and the mood of mind at the time 
helps to determine this. This is why a man 
judges a thing, when it comes before him, by 

that faculty which is predominant at that time. 

* * * 

The nature of man makes him as he is, not his 
will, and men rather do not blame him, for they 
say: "Well, it is his nature; he can't help it." 
They always desire to see it, and, of men's de- 
sires, it seems one of the purest — certainly the 

most natural. 

* * * 

Philosophy is divided into two kinds: that 



Some Disjointed Reflections 203 

which is based upon human life and experience 
and that which is the expression of one's own 
qualities. The philosophy of Schopenhauer and 
Swift are examples of the former, and that of 
Socrates and Plato examples of the latter. 

* * * 

Deceit ''in weakest bodies strongest works." 

* * * 

The world is considerably evil, has some good 
in it, and is mighty interesting. 

Excitement enables man to overcome difficul- 
ties that he would otherwise be unable to do. Is 
not great physical pain endured with greater 
facility than small pain!^ 

* * * 

Melancholic persons are usually the most 
witty. This is probably due to their efforts to 

get away from their own nature. 

* * * 

Incomprehensible as it might be to the 
masses, it is a fact that the quiet man when 

once aroused is the hardest to put down. 

* * * 

Of all the endowments of mankind, love is 
the noblest and the greatest; yet, of all gifts, 
it is the most abused.^ 



^The cause is probably the stimulus of excitement which 
accompanies the former, but not the latter. 

^The reader need only be reminded that evil women have 
always used love as a lure; but this is only one of the many va- 
rieties of its abuse. 



204 Ccesar^s Character 

Imagination is the source of man's greatest 
pains and greatest happiness. 

Does not Governor Folk verify a statement 
made by the author on a former page? He 
was resisted on all sides when he was "strug- 
gling for life in the water," and after he has 
"reached land/' where he neither needs nor 

desires it, ^ ' he is encumbered with help ' ' ! 

* * * 

That which is not present, and which we can- 
not possess, always seems best to us. 

* * # 

Intuition is man's greatest power, Reason his 
greatest defense. All men of genius have the 
former; in fact, without it there is no genius, 
for it is by this that genius comes to conclu- 
sions. 

* * * 

As trees die, rocks crumble, and animal life 
disappears, likewise they who trust in carnal 

things come to nothing. 

* # * 

Great gain is always connected with a deep 
chasm, and he who strikes for the first runs the 

risks of the second. 

* * * 

Men have often discussed "What is man's 
greatest strength ? ' ' There is a spiritual power 
in man which comes to his aid only in times of 
greatest danger, and which no worldly power 
can overcome. That is man's greatest strength. 



Some Disjointed Re-flections 205 

The way to bring the most brilliant things 
out of a man is to tell him he is a fool ! 



Truth is a plant of slow growth, but having 
once reached maturity it is impossible to up- 
root. 

* * * 

The human mind is the greatest work of our 
Creator. Its possibilities are infinite, its char- 
acter embracing, its power of bringing together 
matters of the deepest and most exalted types is 
nothing short of marvelous. 

* * * 

Man should be judged by what his nature 
shows itself to be individually ; whereas, a true 
estimate of a man is not got if his behavior in 
mobs and crowds is passed upon, for in those 
instances men are often influenced by the opin- 
ions of a few. 

* * * 

The defects, minor mistakes and faults of 
man should be overlooked; it is the general 
trend of men's lives that counts. 

* * * 

Similarity of the intellect brooks opposition, 
whereas similarity of the moral sense brings 

quietude. 

* * * 

It isn't how long a man lives, but what he 
goes through, that counts. In experience all 
men are young. 



206 Ccesar^s Character 

If the pleasure of life is not to be found in 
one's work, where is it to be found! 

* * # 

It is amazing what an enormous amount of 
suffering some men can go through and yet not 

die. 

* * * 

It is strange how death — that is, the thing it- 
self — impresses people, whereas what it stands 
for, a transition from one world to another, is 

rarely spoken of. 

* * * 

There are two things in a man's life that are 
without end — suffering and work. 

* * * 

Nothing ever happened without a cause, and 
to which there was not an explanation. 

* * # 

One doesn't know a man until they see him 
excited. Without excitement a man is nothing. 
Excitement is the spice of life ; pleasure its lure. 

* * # 

Two of the greatest evils man has to contend 
with are idleness and melancholy. In the for- 
mer all sorts of wickedness are opened to him, 
and in the latter no deed (concerning himself) 
is too evil to be perpetrated. 

* * * 

Men seldom reform from a sensuous life, but 
after one has you could not induce him, under 
any circumstances, to return to his former life. 



Some Disjointed Reflections 207 

One does not fully appreciate great writings, 
especially those of the ancients, until they are 

similarly inspired. 

* * * 

The impossible is only possible to those who 
believe it possible. Plants have been known to 
grow through stone walls. 

Of all things interesting, human nature is the 
most so, and one cannot understand that there 
is much to it until he comprehends a little, for 

that little beckons him on to what is before. 

* # * 

A man of great ability will unconditionally 
attack an enormous task; whereas a man of 
small ability will avoid all large matters and 
pry around to find a weak point to tackle. In 
this way a man of small ability might make a 
better success than a man of great ability, and 
history shows such cases. Although these men 
themselves are quite despicable, their results 
are not such. Boswell, Johnson's biographer, 

was such a man. 

* * * 

Plutarch has been criticised by some for not 
putting so-called ''digressions" into the form 
of notes. In the author's opinion this is not a 
defect, but a merit. The following out of a 
train of ideas shows that a hrain is at work, 
and is the natural course of thought, while to 
relate things in their time and order is mechan- 
ical and the work of a machine. 



208 C Cesar's Character 

When a morally depraved, mentally sick, 
physically dwarfed man, an uneducated, igno- 
rant being, can get ''close" to a school-board 
and be appointed principal of a high-school, it 
shows either that that important body has cor- 
ruption in it, or that the creature spoken of has 
great powers of deception, which latter we pre- 
fer to believe. This being, furthermore, held 
human life as nothing, his own as nothing, time 
as nothing, the human brain as nothing; but 
the climax is the best, for this small man came 
down to nothing, and when this nothing looked 

out upon the world he saw nothing but nothing ! 

* * * 

A greatly deformed person (morally) looks 
upon a person, with (if the world will allow it 
possible) a touch of perfection, with more ab- 
horrence and disgust than the latter looks upon 
the former. But the main difference is this: 
The latter (if he be true) looks upon the dis- 
torted character with some pity or sympathy, 

but in the opposite case there is none. 

* * # 

There is in the inner nature of man a good 
side; in this part of his nature are his highest 
ideals, which are never attained to the satis- 
faction of their possessor. It is this side of 
man that is seen in autobiographies, and is 
called exaggeration. But the cause of it is that 
the writer sometimes explains and points out 
his ideals rather than his actual life. AYlien a 
glimpse of this is seen in a man, and some of 
the worgt men have shown it, you can set it 



Some Disjointed Reflections 209 

down that there is at least one good spot in his 

heart, and full credit should be given him. 

* * * 

Natural inclination is the greatest force in 

human life. One race of people, for instance, 

that are naturally moral will live better and 

more upright lives than another race of people 

that are swamped with laws. 
* * * 

Tacitus, in his '' Germany,'' p. 19: ^^Good 
habits have there more influence than good 
laws elsewhere." And Justin, speaking of the 
Scythians : ' ' Justice is cultivated by the dispo- 
sitions of the people, not by the laws." Sal- 
lust — '^Conspiracy of Catiline" — Ancient Eo- 
mans: ^'Justice and probity prevailed among 
the citizens, not more from the influence of the 
laws than from natural inclination." This, 
however, is not restricted to moral matters; it 

is the case in all mental pursuits. 

* * * 

The author witnessed an incident one day 
that is worth relating: It was in a street-car. 
A lady sat in the front seat, a man and a boy 
about ten years of age in the second seat, and 
a man in the third seat on the other side of 
the car. The lady arose, to get off the car ; the 
man got up to open the door for her, when the 
boy unconsciously thrust his foot into the aisle. 
The man saw the foot, but, making no effort to 
avoid it, came down directly upon it ; taking one 
brutal look at the disabled foot, he passed on 
and smilingly opened the door for the lady. 



210 Ccesar's Character 

while the boy doubled up his leg in pain. That, 
dear reader, is an example of natural politeness 
sacrificed to artificial and, we may add, worth- 
less politeness ; yet it is the latter that we hear 

so much about. 

* * * 

The world can see guile and craft in no mat- 
ter what form it may be, or however hidden; 
in fact, if it does not find it, it will create it; 
but it seldom sees the truth and the good, and 
if the latter be put in a clear and forcible light 
the world will thrust its fists into that part of 
its face where its eyes are located, so it may 
not see! No one can deny these facts, and al- 
though it is a dark truth, it is not the fault of 
those that point it out. 

We admit, while we are forced to choose be- 
tween the lesser of two evils, that the friend- 
ship of policy is better than no friendship. But 
we refuse to accept the defensive, and come 
back with the declaration that the friendship of 

policy is inferior to sincere friendship. 

* * * 

The fact that this world is a hard place for 
the unfortunate, that it is not so bad for those 
that stay on top, whether their means are fair 
or foul, shows that it is neither just nor fair. 

An expert cheater is seldom exposed, where- 
as one who seldom resorts to unfair means is 
inexperienced, easily detected and always con- 
demned. The former gets away because it is 



Some Disjointed Reflections 211 

difficult to root him out; the latter is convicted 
more on account of the ease with which the 
crime is discovered than for the crime itself. 
Similar is the case where an incident arouses 
the ire of two persons — the one is a frank, hon- 
est, open-natured person; the other a politic, 
guarded, worldly person. The first will show 
his anger on the occasion and, maybe, use some 
bad language; he will be immediately con- 
demned as a disagreeable, unpleasant person. 
Whereas, the second person will conceal his an- 
ger for the time being, but, watching for a fa- 
vorable opportunity, will let it have its vent; 
and let it be known that this secret, unexpected 
anger is of a far worse type than that displayed 
by the first person, yet the first is termed '^ dis- 
agreeable,'' or a madman, and the second a 

^'forgiving, kind-natured being." 

* * * 

In business one sees many boys of whom one 
would expect much — but all are irrecoverably 
bad. One cannot realize or believe this until 
one is with them constantly for a year or more, 
when one learns to know what to expect. The 
condition is probably the same all over the 
world; but the point is, that these boys, who 
are thus thoroughly broke in in their tender 
years, groiv up into this sort of men. When 
we see this we can realize that politics and 
business, which is a second politics, are corrupt 

and why so many bad men are at the head. 

* * * 

Not only can it be told definitely whether a 



212 CcBsar's Character 

man be of good or bad character, but the de- 
gree of good or evil in his nature can be cor- 
rectly estimated by the spirit with which he 
upholds the right and condemns the bad, or vice 

versa! 

* * * 

A way to tell definitely whether a man has 
lived upward or downward is to see which he 
comprehends the best and in the most natural 
manner — the good and the right or the evil and 
the distorted. This is best tried at unexpected 
moments, in new things and always alone. As 
long as human nature remains as it is, the pos- 
sibility of a failure in this does not exist. 



In plots, intrigues — in fact, any evil thing — 
the leaders invariably get away; that was the 
case in the conspiracy of Catiline; the leaders, 
Caesar and Crassus, got away. Here, in St. 
Louis, not long ago, a certain evil was broken 
up, but did not the big fellows get away? In 
years to come, these men will be said to have 
not participated in the evil broken up — just as, 
in after years, Caesar and Crassus were de- 
clared not to have been in the conspiracy of 

Catiline. 

* * * 

There is no such thing as ^^men see things 
as they are," but, rather, things are as men see 
them. This does not lower the standard of mor- 
ality (or any standard), for only men who see 
right set things in their proper place; whereas, 



Some Disjointed Reflections 213 

distorted characters see things in a distorted 

light. 

* * * 

The evil is quick, the good slow; the one flour- 
ishes first, the other after the first has had its 
day; the one is temporary, the other perma- 
nent. 

* * * 

Although a bad man can never understand a 
good man, a good man can comprehend a bad 
one if he stops and reflects, but especially if he 
be surrounded by them and observe closely ; for 
there is no better manner of understanding hu- 
man nature than by observation. 

* * * 

That argument that begins with laughing at 
the opposition, then doing evil and finding an 
excuse for the latter, and lastly deciding against 
the opposition, is not worth very much. 

^ tP ^ 

Reason is not the highest quality with which 
man is endowed; for, aside from the moral 
faculties, there are two qualities of the human 
brain above reason, namely, inspiration and in- 
tuition. These qualities are unfolded to very 
few, and we would advise the great mass of hu- 
manity to depend upon reason. 

* * * 

Wlien a man is enthusiastic, and acts upon 
his own inspiration and overcomes all the oppo- 
sition of his enemies, the latter immediately 
spread the report, ' ' He is a fanatic, ' ' overlook- 
ing the fact, their theory being true, that all 



214 CcBsar^s Character 

the great deeds and all the great men of tMs 
world are the outgrowth of fanaticism and fa- 
natics. 

* * # 

All men have a place and, without exception, 
it is not otherwise than what each individual 
desires/ 

It is true that the defenders of truth are at- 
tacked by the world, and that, at the most dan- 
gerous moments, neither personal physical 
force could protect them nor could the most 
powerful brain originate arguments in his de- 
fense; but the defender of truth, at such mo- 
ments, is enveloped in a divine atmosphere, 
which preserves him from all harm. 

* * * 

When a man, like the one spoken of above, 
overcomes and withstands his enemies, the lat- 
ter (for the sole reason that he refuses to be 
overcome) is called a "fool," '^ fanatic," and 
some worse names. But if this man, who over- 
comes these men who call him these beautiful 
names, is a fool, what are those whom he over- 
comes? (It seems they should be ashamed to 
admit they were defeated by a fool!) 

We are aware that the world usually turns on 

^This is a grand thought, in the author's own opinion, for 
it refers not only to the moral nature, but to the individual 
as an intellectual being; not only to both ends of the after- 
life, but satisfies those who do not believe in the latter, for 
it applies also to this world. 



Some Disjointed Reflections 215 

its benefactors; but, although this is a fact, it 

will never silence or stop them ! 

* * * 

Mankind 's benefactors have risen in the most 
remote ages, but are usually not appreciated, 
and often suppressed or condemned, but do they 
not always rise again I And set it down, inhabi- 
tants of this world, that when you are at your 
worst they will speak the loudest ! The greatest 
moralists have lived in the worst ages. If the 
morals of this book are suppressed or rejected, 
they will rise again in a future generation, as 
the spirit of Huss rose in Luther ; you can kill 

a man, but you can not kill his spirit. 

* * * 

There is this quality in the nature of man: 
that wherever he is, whether he be up or whether 
he be down, he wishes others to be likewise. For 
this reason there is a continual conflict in the 
world between the good and the evil — that which 
is up and that which is down. This condition 
will continue to exist as long as the human race 

remains in its present form. 

* * * 

When man turns against you, turn to your 
animal friends and you will be surprised at the 

comfort they give you. 

* * * 

The best thing about many evil men is their 
pronounced sense of humor. 

Genius is shared by both good and evil, but it 
has always seemed to the writer more natural 



216 C Cesar's Character 

to the latter than the former, on account of their 
love of excessive vital force, which is one of the 

main elements of genius. 

* * * 

The resistance that a man with a purpose en- 
counters is terrific. A perfectly sane and level 
head cannot withstand it, but will yield, while a 
partially unbalanced mind will hang to it with 
almost superhuman pertinacity. 

There are more lemons on earth than grow on 

trees. 

* # * 

Man can have but one or two superhuman 

qualities, and then he is the exception. 

* * * 

Don 't shirk work or you will work harder try- 
ing to get away from work than you would if 

you worked. 

* * # 

It has always been a subject of much mystery 
to mankind why man is endowed with such high 
and splendid ideals, and then meets with such 
deep disappointment. But this is because the 
conditions of this Earth make them impossible 

to realize. 

* * * 

Man, of all creatures, is the most envious of 

the apparent happiness of others. 

* * * 

Great pain and great intellect are closely al- 
lied; that is, one's most intense pain and their 
best thoughts often go together. 



Some Disjointed Reflections 217 

Man, and this is true of all types of men, al- 
ways strives to get away from his own nature. 
Yet men always seek the companionship of those 
of their own nature. 

Every country has its day ; its rise, greatness 
and fall. Persia, Greece, Rome, Turkey and 
France are examples; the same is the case in 

the lives of men. 

* * * 

The real delights of human life emanate not 
from man, but from the man within — the inner 
being. The inner being sees and enjoys many 

things that man neither sees nor enjoys. 

* * * 

The more action, the more passion; the less 
thought, the more a man of the world one can 
be. 

An idea defeated is modified, but one estab- 
lished is emphasized and elaborated. 

* * * 

The common people have neither moral sense 

nor intellect in any marked degree. 

* # * 

All men are disappointed with this world; it 
seems as if we were built for a different world, 

and at the last moment thrust into this one. 

* * * 

Objective reason is the common ground of 

all men. 

* * * 

Men of the world know human nature and the 



218 Cccsar^s Character 

affairs of the world, as they actually are better 
than men of religion. 

* # * 

Man^s greatest unhappiness consists in trying 

to fathom a future life. 

* * * 

We know not if there is a heaven, hell or an 
after-life. Yet we are compelled to go through 
this world with the faculties we have, and make 

it out for ourselves. 

* * * 

If you succeed here, it is because your fellow- 
beings were not looking, or could not prevent it. 

* * * 

It must be the intention of Nature that the 
Earth should be composed of confusion, strife, 

conflict, discontent and dissatisfaction. 

* * # 

The source of the evil that humanity throws 
into the world lies largely in man's passion, 
whether naturally irritable, excited by occasion 
or agitated by whatever artificial means in his 
power. 

«: * * 

Everything exists of necessity; even the ap- 
pearance of justice. 

Of the world this is true, that the worthless 
succeed with greater ease than the worthy. 

* * * 

Children, as infants, are almost continually 
crying. Who knows but what the early stages 



Some Disjointed Reflections 219 

of existence are quite painful, or that birth it- 
self is so? 

* * * 

Man, whether he be good or bad, whether he 
takes a wide or narrow path, whether of the in- 
tellectual or physical type, does nothing but 
serve the purpose of Nature and establish her 

truths. 

* * * 

This world suits neither the good nor the bad. 
The good say it is a bad world, because there is 
not enough good in it; the bad say it is a bad 
world, because it does not satisfy their expec- 
tations. 

* * * 

In this life nothing is final, and only the work 

of genius permanent. 

* * * 

The closer one gets to the evils of men and 
the earth, the less horrible, the more natural 
and the more human they become. This refers 

to the world ^s worst evils. 

* # * 

Humanity is the only standpoint by which all 

men can be judged. 

* * * 

The world must be as it is through the laws 
of Nature ; for, surely, confusion, discord, strife 
and conflict are natural to it. 

The common people are concerned only with 
common affairs; business and the making of a 
living. Business is a thing that a few men de- 



220 C Cesar's Character 

vote their brains and life to, that common men, 
who live but to work and eat and enjoy them- 
selves, can do as well. 

* * * 

The realizations of life are far beneath the 
human soul ; that is, human ideals are not grati- 
fied by human experience. 

* * * 

If there is such a thing as moral enjoyment, 

it comes only after everything else is sated. 

* * * 

That philosophy which is based upon human 
life and experience is the most accurate and the 

most useful. 

* * * 

The petite passions of men can be best Imown 
not by general appearances, but by particular 

actions. 

* * * 

This is true, that one's passion will lead one 
on with unbounded fury, but, after having se- 
cured the object of its desire, though sated, it 
is not satisfied. 

History shows that it has usually been the 
practical, cool, deliberative races who have con- 
quered; whereas the imaginative, beautiful and 
many-sided races have failed, and been con- 
quered. The Spartans and Komans are exam- 
ples of the former; the Athenians and Greeks 
(as compared to the Romans) are examples of 
the latter. 



Some Disjointed Reflections 221 

Pain is real, and pleasure hollow; honor, a 

name ; and crookedness, a fact. 

* * * 

Lawyers and physicians name their calling a 
profession; if, by that, they mean robbery and 

general crookedness, then it is a profession. 

* * * 

Love, like fruit, is preserved best in a cold 

atmosphere. A warm atmosphere rots it. 

* * * 

In pursuing an object, the pleasure is not in 

the object pursued, but in the pursuit. 

* * * 

The most human standpoint is to judge each 
man from his oivn standpoint. To judge all 
things and all types of nien from one standpoint 
is the least human. 

tP ^ Tt* 

To have great strength in one faculty means 

to lose it in another. 

* * * 

The world was either founded on a mistake, 
or several mistakes were made after it was 

founded. 

* * * 

The conditions and circumstances of the world 
are partly responsible for the presence of evil 
in the world. The internal cause lies in man's 

passions. 

* * * 

The human mind works along the lines of 
strongest connection, and the original nature in 
man usually decides what that is. 



222 C Cesar's Character 

Time is the only true judge of permanent 

works. 

* * * 

The strain of genius and insanity is analo- 
gous. 

* * * 

From many defects, irregularities, idiosyncra- 
sies, peculiarities one's best merits often arise. 

* * * 

Can a man whose mind, by nature, is opposed 

to religion be blamed for not believing in it! 

* * * 

Ever notice how an event is judged by that 
faculty of the mind which is uppermost at that 
time? This is how the same thing is judged dif- 
ferently in different ages. 

* * * 

If men see they are giving one what he de- 
sires, if the latter be worthy, they will immedi- 
ately desist. 

* * * 

This is true of whatever place man is in, that 
he sees the merits of that place and the defects 
of any other. This is frequently illusion, but it 
enables men to endure existence in miserable 
circumstances. 

No type of men can resist their own qualities. 

* * * 

If you hit a sore spot in a man, you will not 

crush, but aggravate it. 

* * * 

Give a man something he does not like, get 



Some Disjointed Reflections 223 

him accustomed to it, and he will have nothing 

else. 

* * * 

Elasticity is a characteristic of youth. And 
it does not take much observance to see that 
women are judged according to their elasticity. 

* * * 

To succeed in this world it is well to be a ma- 
terialist and a realist, and, it might be added, a 

pessimist. 

* * * 

Many original natures are changed by the con- 
ditions and circumstances of the world. 

^ TT ^ 

The greatest noise is made about the smallest 
things, the least about the greatest things, and 

then at inopportune times. 

* * * 

Man 's constructive abilities is one of his best 
merits ; yet, like most merits, it takes little credit 

for what it does. 

* * * 

A want applies to what is present, immediate ; 

a wish to the future. 

* * * 

Man only believes what he experiences and 
what he can see and feel, but nothing beyond. 
If a complaint is made on this last characteris- 
tic, man's nature should have been made differ- 
ent. 

* * * 

Great pain and great pleasure are closely al- 



224 C Cesar's Character 

lied; little pain and little pleasure go together.^ 

You get nothing here without paying dear for it. 

* * * 

It seems that God chose a bad set of people 
when He chose the Jews as His people. For it is 
difficult to see why the world's money-grabbers 
should be His favorite race. And if a people 
were intended to exist who are more given to 
personal interest, or are more sly, crafty, ma- 
lignant, or are better cheats and dead-beats 
than they, He must have forgot to create them. 
Probably He wants to show us what good can 
be made of crooks, thieves and money-suckers ; 
if that is the case, it is not impossible to under- 
stand His motive. 

The only way to get anything here is to take 
it. If you ask for it, you will be given some- 
thing else about one-tenth its value. 

* * * 

Few birds would sing if only those sang who 
sang the best; there is a place for every one, but 

not the same place for all. 

* * * 

In this age, qualities and traits of character 
are made subordinate to systems, rules and in- 
stitutions. The one changes with each genera- 
tion; the other is permanent. Crack age. 

* * * 

The best and the worst names in history be- 
gin with the letter C, Christ, Cato, Cicero, 

^The writer needs but to mention three great forces in 
human life: love, opium, alcohol. 



Some Disjointed Reflections 225 

Charlemagne, Cromwell are examples of the 
first type; Caesar, Catiline, Caligula, Clodius, 
Charles II. are examples of the second type. 
The list is longer, but the examples given show 

the truth of the statement. 

* * * 

Men prefer to oppose rather than assist ; and 

would rather hand one a lemon than an orange. 

* * * 

Some people have the idea that the good and 
the true are analogous, whereas this is seldom 
the case; while the bad and the true frequently 
go together, and the dark and the beautiful are 

often combined. 

* * * 

That which supplies the demands of the pres- 
ent age least frequently lives afterward. 

* * * 

In the case of small minds, the intellect is 
wrapped up in small and common affairs. It is 
right that these affairs should be an abyss from 

which they (the intellects) never emerge. 

* * * 

The evils of Earth are many, and are derived 
from the circumstances of the world, disease 

and man. 

* # * 

Man in action and man thinking are very dif- 
ferent creatures; in practical life, an honest 

man does not exist. 

* * # 

To write a good literary work one should have 
a small income and leisure. The ancients had it. 



226 C Cesar's Character 

and in the time of the Eenaissance they also had 
it, but then only men who are fitted have a 

chance. 

* * # 

When the intellect is at its highest pitch, the 
moral sense must either be still higher, or not 
exist at all. And in the list of the world's gen- 
ius you will find the majority to have belonged 

to the latter class. 

* * # 

The nature in man is, at bottom, responsible 
for most of his actions. Firstly, man, of neces- 
sity, does what his nature prompts him to do. 
Secondly, if man does things according to his 
wish, passion and desire directly are responsible 

for it, but the source of this is his nature. 

* * # 

The ancients used the fore part of the head, 
the present age uses the base and sides ; degen- 
eration? No! 

* * * 

When men like or dislike a man, it is not the 
rtian they like or dislike, but the qualities, traits 

of character in that man. 

* * * 

Every faculty of the human mind has this 
distinctive trait. It wishes to have full sway, to 
the detriment of all other faculties, and it will 
follow out its purpose with the greatest pertin- 
acity, to the neglect and disregard of the other 

faculties. 

* * * 

Since the nature in man is responsible for so 



Some Disjointed Reflections 227 

much, and is the source of his actions, the trend 
of his life, and he cannot well be otherwise than 
what it dictates, the question comes, How came 
it there 1 If man lived in a former state, and in 
that state, by his life and actions, determined 
the nature he should have here, it could not be 
more positive, clearly defined or firmly fixed. 
Now, since man holds so firmly to the nature he 
has, and is willing to be responsible for it, it 
seems he had something to do with the making 
of it. Since this could only have happened be- 
fore his present consciousness existed, it could 
have happened only in an embryo state, or in a 
state of pre-existence. Pre-existence would, 
therefore, explain this one thing — why the na- 
ture of individual man is as it is, and how it 
comes to be so powerful — a thing that cannot 

otherwise be explained. 

* * * 

Human life and experience embitter men 

against hope, a future life and religion. 

* * * 

There is nothing so intolerable as the mo- 
notonous grind of a sane mind ; whereas a mind 
that has slipped a cog or two has the pleasures 
of agitation, activity, excitement, variety and 
nothing of monotony. 

Perturbation of mind is usually accounted a 

bad thing, but sometimes it is genius. 

* * * 

Eockefeller might control the world's oil, but 
he has no monopoly on the oil of life. 



228 CcBsar's Character 

Too strict laws are probably as much the 
cause of lawbreaking as all the bad tendencies 

in man put together. 

* * # 

The only friends that will stand by a man in 
time of trouble are his pocketbook and his own 

head. 

* * # 

When women are men and men are women, 
what is the human race! 

The way of the wise is sufficient. Others 

should take notice. 

* * * 

A candle is made to burn, give light, flicker 
and burn out; one that does not is no good. 

Man is like a candle. 

* * * 

Man in passion, whether of the exalted or de- 
pressing kind, is no judge of its strength. 

* # * 

Present pains and pleasures always seem the 

greatest. 

* * * 

People with their democratic spirit forget 
that when everybody is somebody, nobody is 
anybody ! 



AN ADDRESS TO THE GOOD IN 
HUMANITY 

Man, not Heaven, needs your help. 

Those who wish well to humanity should as- 
sert themselves, for what good is it for the 
good to exist, and the world not know of it? 
Your numbers are not so few, but you do not 
assert yourselves, and by many are not known 
to exist. Why do you allow evil men to work 
harder for the cause of evil than you do for the 
cause of good? Don't allow modesty to keep 
you back; act, or the evil will anticipate you, 
for to be most useful one must be active. This 
is well for you to see and perform, for here lies 
mankind's reserve power, and mankind can be 
done no good if it sleeps. You say, there are not 
on earth things of sufficient interest to you to 
arouse you. No, but if you mirror your type 
of character upon the world there will be ! 

Those of you who live for Heaven, remem- 
ber it is not Heaven that needs help, but man- 
kind! Personal happiness is selfish. You of 
modest dispositions, if not for yourself, for 
humanity assert your character. You philoso- 
phers, gentle as impractical, remember that 

229 



230 Ccesar^s Character 

men do not live in clouds and tliat your high 
systems of morality, like the magnet with its 
bar at too great a distance, attracts but few 
men. In addressing the masses it is well to say 
that evil men are your enemies and will deceive 
and cajole you, and do worse. Comprehend 
this and fall not, if possible, but if you fall re- 
turn and you will be welcomed, but fall not too 
many times. Let them not distort natures and 
characters, or invert principles and laws on 
you, for by this they get you into their power 
and control. 

Our intention is not to arouse the evil, but 
to call forth the good in men; we have failed 
in our purpose if there be no response. But 
we cannot help but complain when we see the 
good, truth and the right so long and so effec- 
tively suppressed. When the good are on the 
aggressive, not only are the attacks of the evil 
withdrawn from them, but the latter 's conceit 
and arrogance immediately disappear. Although 
the good will seldom accomplish all they set out 
to do, thej will accomplish much, and much of 
the evil before practised will disappear as if by 
magic. 

It is selfish to live a moral life and be apart 
from the world. Do not be selfish. It is not 
enough to live a moral life yourself; help oth- 
ers to do so. Strive not for personal happiness, 
but to uplift mankind at the expense of the for- 
mer. That is universal happiness and is that 
quality in its highest form. The good that comes 
to the world when good men have the upper 



Address to the Good in Humanity 231 

hand is that the evil in men lessens (it never 
fails), and what, in the opinion of the author, is 
the noblest and most enduring benefit of all is 
the fact that the good cannot come into contact 
with the evil without the latter absorbing, right 
through the skin, it seems, some of the quali- 
ties of the good (the result is inevitable.) It 
is true, the good might suffer some contamina- 
tion from the evil, but that is the virtue of self- 
sacrifice. The evil benefits by coming into con- 
tact with the good, and the good benefits by up- 
lifting the evil. Is there a nobler purpose in 
man than to uplift mankind I 

Those of you who have too much reverence 
and too little insight are to be pitied, for you 
often reverence what you do not comprehend. 
You should not reverence until you know what 
you reverence. Does not the Bible frequently 
warn you to beware of false Christs and lead- 
ers I Therefore, comprehend before you admire 
and respect. God made the world, but man 
rules it; the good should, therefore, see their 
duty. The Great Book says : " Be bold in your 
goodness"; which means nothing else than to 
reflect your characters upon the world. You 
should assert yourself; not for your own good, 
but for the good of humanity; for when good 
men have the upper hand the effect is enor- 
mous. 

The principle set forth by the author lies 
wholly in the hands of the good. "Whether this 
standard shall be upheld, asserted and estab- 
lished depends solely upon you. You have 



232 CcBsar's Character 

asked for this classification. You have asked 
that these distinctions be made. Now that you 
have what you have asked for, see that you up- 
hold it, for no other will. If you do so, as sure 
as the human race continues to inhabit the 
earth, this principle will be established, for this 
principle and the best that is in man are in- 
separably linked. 



CONCLUSION 

THE ARGUMENT 

A few words about Froude. Caesar, at best, 
benefited the world but indirectly. Bad sub- 
jects should not be painted in rosy colors. A 
test to the world. The writer has not been 
harsh. The author's hope of an after life in 
this world and the world to come. 



It is amusing to note how the worshipers of 
Caesar depreciate the opponents of Caesar. Cic- 
ero, at best, was an "upstart"; Cato a "fool," 
and, compared to Don Quixote, Pompey a 
"common man" and only accidentally great, 
etc. But do the worshipers of Caesar realize 
that they depreciate their hero in belittling his 
opponents! If his adversaries were such ex- 
tremely little men as they try to have us be- 
lieve, did it not take but a trifle more than a 
very little man to get the best of them? But, 
fortunately, Cato, Cicero, Pompey and Brutus 
"are still there," and they are going to stay 
there. 

No valid defense of Julius Ccesar has ever 
been made hy his luorshipers. Of the four main 

283 



234 Ccesar^s Character 

writers who have tried to defend his career, 
Napoleon III and De Quincey do not become 
deeply involved in it, because they do not say 
enough, and Mommsen, in his statements, has 
done his hero more harm than good, as this 
work has shown. These works, especially the 
two former, are filled with many windy pas- 
sages that make one dizzy to read (1). It was 
reserved, however, for Antony Froude to make 
the greatest mess of it. A few examples from 
the latter 's joke-book will make this statement 
valid. In several places in the work when 
Froude gets in a tight place he uses a strange 
method of getting around it. This method will 
be known in this work as ^' Froude 's Peculiar 
Defense.'' An example follows. Froude first 
tries to deny that Curio was in money straits 
and was bought up by Caesar, by saying^ that 
^^ scandal said that young Cicero was in money 
difficulties, and that Caesar had paid his debts 
for him. ' ' It might be interesting to the reader 
to know what Froude calls scandal. 

Following is Suetonius ('^ J. Csesar," XXIX) : 
** Caesar, by means of an immense bribe, en- 
gaged in his defense ^milius Paulus, the other 
consul, and Caius Curio, the most violent of the 
tribunes." 

Appian (B. II, chap, v, s. 25) : ^^ Caesar was 

(1) Napoleon III. defended Csesar because he wished to 
justify the wicked career of his uncle (Napoleon Bona- 
parte), and the writer has already shown how nicely the 
two can be compared. 

^Froude — "Caesar," p. 376. 



Conclusion 235 

not able to influence Clandms with money, but 
he bought the neutrality of Paulus for 1,500 
talents, and the assistance of Curio with a still 
larger sum, because he knew that the latter was 
heavily burdened with debt. ' ' 

Plutarch (^' Caesar,'' XXIX): ''He paid off 
the vast debts of Curio, the tribune.'' 

Dio Cassius (B. XL, chap. 60) : Dio says 
that Caesar decided on reconciliation with Curio, 
and continues: "By buoying him up with many 
hopes, and releasing him from all his debts, 
which, on account of his great expenditures, 
were enormous, Caesar attached him to him- 
self." 

Mommsen (''History of Rome," page 425) 
says Curio's debts were about £600,000, and 
proceeds: "He [Curio] had previously of- 
fered himself to be bought by Caesar, and had 
been rejected; the talent which he thenceforth 
displayed in his attacks on Caesar induced the 
latter subsequently to buy him up — the price 
was high, but the commodity was worth the 
money. ' ' 

We could quote other historians, but will fin- 
ish with a passage from Middleton: "He [Caes- 
ar] is said to have given Paulus about £300,000, 
and to Curio much more. The first wanted to 
defray the charges of those splendid buildings 
which he had undertaken to raise at his own 
cost. The second, to clear himself from the load 
of his debts, which amounted to about half a 
million, for he had wasted his great fortunes so 
effectually in a few years that he had no other 



236 Ccesar's Character 

revenue left, as Pliny says, but in the hopes of 
a civil war. These facts are mentioned by all 
the Roman ivriters/' 

History, dear reader, as you see, Froude,when 
it does not redound to Caesar ^s credit, calls 
^^ scandal/' We will allow Froude to proceed, 
and note how he gets out of it : "It was prob- 
ably a lie invented by political malignity [and 
then^ after trying to deny it, he admits its pos- 
sibility] ; but if Curio was purchasable, Ccesar 
would not have hesitated to buy him"! 

Another example of "Fronde's Peculiar De- 
fense" is his attempted defense of Caesar's con- 
duct with women. After talking some nonsense 
about Caesar's distaste of gluttony and the "sav- 
age amusements of male Romans,"^ he tries to 
make out that this darling was better fitted to 
the "society of cultivated ladies than that of 
men." Froude found it impossible to deny the 
charges of Caesar 's connection with women, and 
used this method in trying to get out of it. But 
let him proceed (p. 533) : "The elder Curio said : 
' Omnium mulierum vir et omnium virorum mu- 
lier ! ' He had mistresses in every country which 
he visited, and he had liaisons with half the 
ladies in Rome. That Caesar's morality was al- 
together superior to that of the average of his 
contemporaries is, in a high degree, improbable. 
He was a man of the world, peculiarly attracted 
to women, and likely to have been attracted by 
them." 

^Page 535. 



Conclusion 237 

Let him proceed some more (p. 535) : ''Two 
intrigues, it may be said, are beyond dispute. 
His connection with the mother of Brutus was 
notorious. Cleopatra, in spite of Oppius, was 
living with him in his house at the time of his 
murder. ' ' So there, again, dear reader, you see 
how Froude first tries to deny a thing, and then, 
finding this impossible, is compelled to admit 
it. 

We will now pass over Froude 's joke (p. 549) 
about Caesar's "hatred of injustice" and his 
"tenderness," and will point out one or two 
"sick" spots in the work. 

"In a passage from a letter to Atticus," says 
Troll ope,^ "Froude says that 'Caesar was mor- 
tar (Froude, p. 365). So much is an intended 
translation. Then Mr. Froude tells us how 
Cicero had 'hailed Caesar's eventual murder 
with rapture'; and goes on to say: 'We read 
the words with sorrow and yet with pity.' But 
Cicero had never dream.ed of Caesar's mur- 
der. The words of the passage are as follows : 
'Hunc primum mortalem esse, deinde etiam 
multis modis extingui posse cogitabam.' 'I 
bethought myself, in the first place, that this 
man was mortal and then that there were a 
hundred ways in which he might be put on one 
side. ' All the latter authorities have, I believe, 
supposed the 'hunc,' or 'this man,' to be Pom- 
pey. ' ' 

Further down: "But whether Caesar or Pom- 

^TroUope— "Life of Cicero." Introduction, pp. 10 and 11. 



238 CcBsar's Character 

pey, there is nothing in it to do with murder. 
It is a question — Cicero is saying to his friend 
— of the stability of the Republic. When a 
matter so great is considered, how is a man to 
trouble himself as to an individual who may die 
any day, or cease, from any accident, to be of 
weight ? 

' ' Cicero was speaking of the effect of this or 
that stejD on his own part. 'Am I,' he says, 
'for the sake of Pompey, to bring down hordes 
of barbarians on my own country, sacrificing 
the Republic for the sake of a friend who is 
here to-day and may be gone to-morrow ?' Or 
for the sake of an enemy, if the reader thinks 
that the 'hunc' refers to Caesar, the argument is 
the same : 'Am I to consider an individual when 
the Republic is at stake ! ' " 

Following is the passage in question from 
Froude (p. 404) : " 'Caesar, I reflected, was, in 
the first place, but mortal; and then there were 
many ways in which he might be got rid of. ' 

"Caesar was but mortal! The rapture with 
which Cicero hailed Caesar's eventual murder 
explains too clearly the direction in which his 
thoughts were already running. If the life of 
Caesar alone stood between his country and the 
resurrection of the constitution, Cicero might 
well think, as others have done, that it was bet- 
ter that one man should die rather than the 
whole nation perish. We read the words with 
sorrow, and yet with pity. That Cicero, after 
his past flatteries of Caesar, after the praises he 
was yet to heap upon him, should yet have 



Conclusion / 239 

looked on his assassination as a thing to be de- 
sired, throws a saddening light upon his inner 
nature. But the age was sick with a moral 
plague, and neither strong nor weak, wise nor 
unwise, bore any antidote against infection." 

Trollope makes another correction of 
Froude^s Latin when the latter claims Cicero 
wrote: ''When that he [Caesar] should be alive 
is disgraceful to us." Trollope gives the Latin: 
''Cum vivere ipsum turpe sit nobis," and 
points out that Froude had blundered by ap- 
plying the word "ipsum" to Caesar. Whereas 
the true sense is: "When the very fact of liv- 
ing [in such a state of things] is disgraceful 
to us!" So here, again, if there is anything 
"sick" in this matter, it lies not in Cicero, but 
in Fronde's Latin and imagination. 

Hadley, in his "Introduction to Roman 
Law,"^ says that "when the Romans, under the 
lead of Caesar, had become masters of Gaul, the 
old Celtic language of the country soon disap- 
peared, and with it the old customs, laws and 
institutions of the people. The language, laws 
and institutions of the Romans took their place. 
In the course of a few generations Gaul was 
thoroughly Romanized." This probably was a 
good thing, but Caesar did not intend to bring 
about this result. His purposes were military, 
not civil, for it was military glory and the 
power of the Dictator that he sought. His in- 
tentions were not of a remote character that 

^Page 27. 



240 CcBsar^s Character 

would be of lasting benefit to the human race; 
they were of an immediate nature, which could 
be and were fulfilled within his own lifetime. 
Caesar benefited the world at best but indirect- 
ly, and if the world received only the good that 
was derived from indirect sources, we would 
most assuredly have very little good in the 
world. And when we deduct the intensely bad 
example this character has given the world, 
from those instances, we find that he owes the 
world a debt that only centuries in Hades could 
pay. 

Not all writers are agreed upon the intentions 
Caesar had in writing his Commentaries, but 
Mommsen seemed to have expressed the opinion 
of the great historians when he says that the 
Commentaries are valuable for the geogra- 
phy, camp-life and army system. That much 
will be admitted, for the Commentaries are 
probably accurate geographically, or Strabo 
and others would not have followed them; but 
politically they cannot be accepted as accurate. 
Caesar's Commentaries are but an arm of his 
life, and were written not with a literary, but 
with a political purpose. That is, to explain 
to the Roman world his nefarious purposes. 

People in general admire ^^ Paradise Losf 
not so much for the moral it teaches, but for 
the portrayal of the character of Lucifer. They 
claim that he is a very attractive personage. 
Milton certainly did not intend that it should 
be so, and there is a second, and probably bet- 
ter, reason why Lucifer is admired. It is a 



Conclusion 241 

characteristic of the inhabitants of this world 
to search out and admire the bad, rather than 
the good. The latter is often rejected, although 
it be the prominent part of a work ; whereas the 
former, set in however black colors and tucked 
away where it can be reached only after much 
twisting, when it is distorted from the purpose 
the author intended it to serve, then admired, 
and finally embraced. This is the case with 
Milton's "Paradise Lost," Dante's "Divine 
Comedy" and the greatest works that have 
been extended to humanity. There are in this 
work no Lucifers that can be construed into at- 
tractive personages, nothing brilliant about 
evil men. If the reader feels this strongly, then 
he knows the author has succeeded. 

In describing Heaven and certain things on 
earth, poetry certainly can do it best, but in- 
stead of poetry for describing hell and its in- 
habitants, if stiff, hard, harsh (due to the sub- 
ject) prose were used, they (those works) would 
come a step nearer their intended success. Bad 
subjects should not be painted in rosy colors. 

It is not too much to say that this work tests 
the world and tests it as it has, probably, not 
been tested before. If it rejects the work, 
vomits it forth, then it is sufficient proof that 
the world is, indeed, in a miserable condition. 
If it accepts it, then it shows that there is a 
fairly good amount of honor and righteousness 
in the world. If this work, we repeat, is a fail- 
ure, it is due not to any weakness of our cause 
nor in the way it is set forth, but in the attitude 



242 C Cesar's Character 

of those to whom it is addressed. Thence, if 
the work perishes, the standard of mankind is 
lower than the author suspected, then the de- 
pravity of the human race is more universal 
than he expected to find it. But he cannot be- 
lieve this is true, and when he reflects that the 
Bible has been condemned, attacked and as- 
sailed on all sides, and yet stands firm through 
it all, he believes that his work, which condemns 
that type of men most detrimental to the hu- 
man race, cannot be thrown aside as useless! 
This work is put in a clear, forcible manner, 
so that it cannot be misconstrued or misunder- 
stood. It sets forth its views in a way that is 
far from obscurity; its mission is to protect and 
uplift the human race, and the author lays it 
to the consciences of men whether it shall 
thrive; reminding them, however, that if they 
denounce it they condemn themselves in doing 
so. 

One might say that the author is assertive. 
Probably so, but it is not ourself that we assert, 
but the higher order of mankind which, when 
the class of men we condemn have the upper 
hand, are not known by the world to exist, for 
they are frequently suppressed. 

It is not our intention in this work to arouse 
the evil; if we cannot call forth the good, we 
prefer that the work should die; but we wish 
to make it clear, man cannot do this without 
condemning himself ! Our protection is that we 
defend mankind. We defend mankind more 
than we condemn Cassar, and in doing the for- 



Conclusion 243 

mer are compelled to do the latter. Aside from 
our hope of perpetuity, we hope that this work 
has satisfied that demand made by the better 
part of mankind, which is expressed best by 
Channing.' "Nations," this writer says, "have 
seemed to court aggression and bondage by 
their stupid, insane admiration of successful 
tyrants. The wrongs from which men have suf- 
fered most in mind and body are yet unpun- 
ished." Then, speaking of the reproaches put 
upon these men, he says: '^ These reproaches 
are as little more than sounds, and unmean- 
ning commonplaces. They are repeated for 
form's sake. When we read or hear them we 
feel that they want depth and strength.'' 

The author repeats, he hopes he has satis- 
fied this demand, aside from being concise and 
embracing. However, if the author has suc- 
ceeded in this respect, his estimation of Caesar 
has not been a harsh one; it has been a truth- 
ful one. If the two coincide, it is not the fault 
of the one who points it out, but the one who 
is the author of it. Parts of this work may 
have necessarily been hard, but the morals and 
philosophy contained in it have served to soften 
a necessarily hard work. And if side topics 
have been brought in, it was because the writer 
wished to give one or two good settings to an 
apparently bad piece of jewelry. 

The writer hopes that the world will absorb 
the weight of his words, and although it is good 
advice not to trust to a man's honor who has 

MDhanning, in his "Character of Napoleon Bonaparte." 



244 C Cesar's Character 

none, yet he does not wish to be hasty in pass- 
ing probably a too harsh judgment upon the 
world. He has compared, pointed out and in- 
troduced, probably to some, the traits and char- 
acteristics of two widely different men.^ He 
wishes to direct the trend of men toward the 
one, and away from the other; if the first is 
difficult and seemingly impossible, frail beings 
of the human race, do see the other, but be care- 
ful to avoid him. 

This work, on the whole, will probably take a 
long time to digest, but when it has done so it 
will do the service that all food of its nature 
does. 

What care I- to discontinue to live at the end 
of this life, to live but this short existence! A 
future existence in a grander, higher world I 
must have, to be content. And you, dear fellow- 
beings, must direct your lives no other way. 
Neither do I care to live but the life granted 
one on this earth. What I desire is to continue 
to live on this earth and teach the poor, but be- 
loved, inhabitants of the world, after I and all 
of my time are gone. 

It is our desire that our work should be read 

^The writer here refers to Christ and Caesar. In Caesar's 
own time Cato and Caesar are meant. It might be said that 
it would have been better had the writer used Christ in 
comparison to Caesar throughout the work. Surely, Cato 
was not a perfect man, but he was a worthy substitute, and 
it is easier for the people to comprehend the traits of the 
latter two men, who lived under the same circumstances 
and conditions. 

2 The first time the author speaks of himself in the first 
person. The first is after Life; the second, Fame. 



Conclusion 245 

by all good Christians and moral men throngh- 
out the world and in all ages, and that ere the 
Day of Judgment the perhaps terrible, but no 
less great, truth we have conveyed to mankind 
will be recognized and acknowledged. The prin- 
ciple brought out in this work should be spread 
over the earth, so that men may see the hvo 
divisions into ivhich the first men of the world 
are divided; the benefit of the one to mankind, 
and the depressing influence upon humanity of 
the other. A lesson the world is in need of, and 
which some of its inhabitants have called for. 



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